


Escaping the Third Night

by Whovian101



Series: Escape the Night [3]
Category: Doctor Who, escape the night - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-05-27 06:43:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15018929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whovian101/pseuds/Whovian101
Summary: The Doctor got another invitation from Joey Graceffa, whom he assumed to be dead after watching him get shot by a Dalek. This time he has been invited to come and save the town of Everlock, something he cannot pass up.This is pretty much a novelization of Joey Graceffa's YouTube Red series, Escape the Night Season 3, except the deaths are in different orders and with the Tenth Doctor as a guest.





	1. An Invitation From a Dead Man

The Doctor’s hands were shaking, Joey was gone. The Dalek’s had shot him where he stood and the Doctor had buried him. He was gone, so why did he have this. Another letter. It was impossible. Yet, he knew what he had to do.

_My Friends,_

_I am going on an extraordinary adventure, and I’m in need of your help, and so are hundreds of others. This is not an invitation to a ball or a dinner party, it’s an invitation to embark on a dangerous mission. It may sound impossible, but there’s a town trapped in the 1970s, and very soon everyone in it will be dead unless we do something about it. There’s a dark séance that will take us back in time, but for it to work, you must choose a personality reminiscent of that era, and dress like them. Remember, nothing from the modern world can come with you. The people of Everlock will know their role and their place, but you will be operating without knowledge or understanding of what’s to come. This Friday the 13th, the doorway to Everlock will be open, and we will only have that one night to complete our mission._

_Joey Graceffa_

 

The Doctor quickly found himself standing with nine other people around a small fire. There was Nikita, the Troublemaker, Safiya, the Investigative Reporter, Roi, the Daredevil, Matthew Patrick, or Mat, the Detective, Colleen, the Disco Dancer, Manny, the Record Producer, JC, the Hippie, Rosanna, the Jetsetter, Teala, the Super Spy, and himself, the Physician. “Where’s Joey?” Mat finally asked after standing around the fire in silence for a good thirty minutes,

“I haven’t seen him in a while. Like, couple months.” Rosanna said,

“I thought this was just a collab.” Colleen said, “Like, I thought this was just gonna be a collab.” The Doctor felt himself grimace, he wished it was. “Why would he have us meet him _here_ ? Is _this_ the town?” Colleen gestured to the small fire by their feet, the Doctor would have laughed had the situation not been as it was.

“This is clearly not the town.” Mat said, laughing with the rest of them. No one seemed to notice that the Doctor was not as full of humor as the others.

“I’m just here to see, you know, like, can we actually time travel?” Safiya said, the Doctor almost smiled at that, she had no idea. Suddenly, Joey came out from the darkness,

“You guys came!” He exclaimed, the Doctor stared at him,

“Joey.” He choked out, “You were dead. Why are we doing this again?”

“Look, I’ll explain it tomorrow, but we don’t have much time. There’s a town in trouble, and we need to help.” The Doctor gave a sharp nod, and said nothing more.

“So, tell us about this town.” Mat said, and Joey began,

“Uh, so, I need your help. I really don’t know much about how we get there. But I was given this,” Joey held up a large suitcase with the Society Against Evil’s marking on it, “And we need to save this town. Apparently, there’s stuff in here that’s gonna help us get into the town to save it.”

“Open it up.” The Doctor said, his seriousness somewhat surprising the rest of the group. Joey pulled out a scroll, and handed it to the Doctor, then pulled out another object.

“Salt?” Rosanna said, confused,

“For the séance.” The Doctor said, then began to read the scroll. “Those who desire to go back in time and enter the town of Everlock must be inhabited by a spirit that once lived there.” The Doctor grabbed the salt, making a circle, as everyone else stood back, clearly they knew that he was more experienced in this field than the rest of them. The Doctor placed the five crystals at the head of the circle and everyone stood around it holding hands, the Doctor read, “From across the veil of death, I request your presence, so I might make wrong things right. Enter into that I might see the doorway to Everlock." Suddenly, the fire erupted with a green, shiney smoke-like substance, and the Doctor felt it slide into him through his eyes and mouth. He screamed as pain erupted throughout him, then it slid out, leaving the entire group gasping for breath. As a bridge placed itself together ahead of them. At the other end of the bridge, was an arch that read: _Town of Everlock_. The eleven of them walked forward, when suddenly, a clown burst through the curtains beneath the arch,

“Boo!” She cried, sending the group a step back, startled. “It’s your lucky day! Because the carnival’s in town!” She gave a high cackle, “We have, a strong man, a snake woman, dolls with knives! It’s like bloody Christmas every day!” She gave another cackle, and the rest of the guests gave a nervous laugh, “We will be friends soon.” The clown assured them, “I’ve got a good feeling about that. Enjoy the ride!” She held open the curtain for them to walk through, and they entered the carnival ground.

“Did she say dolls with knives?” Mat asked nervously, but his unusually occurring midwest accent made it sound more like dahls. As they entered the carnival ground, the Doctor saw a large ferris wheel, and loads of carnival games,

“Don’t get yourself into anything you can’t get yourself out of.” He said, eyes locked on the ferris wheel,

“Boy, why are you so paranoid?” Manny asked, but the Doctor shook his head, knowing he couldn’t tell. “Just a feeling I’ve got. Something’s not right here.”

“What’s there to save? This all looks fun.” Colleen said as the group dispersed, the Doctor pulled Joey aside,

“What happened?” He asked, “I thought you were dead. I watched you die. How are you still alive?”

“I don’t know.” Joey said, but the Doctor could tell he was lying, Joey had never been a good lier, especially to him. “Don’t make me look into your head. Just tell me.” The Doctor said,

“I can’t, consequences and all that.”

“Don’t pretend that’s what this is about, because we both know it isn’t. Just tell me, Joey, please.”

“I’m sorry, not now. Just give me some time.” The Doctor nodded, they both knew he wouldn’t go breaking into Joey’s head without permission.

“Hey there, skirt, how are you?” The Doctor heard a man asking Nakita,

“Hi, how are you, guy?” Nikita said rather uncomfortably,

“Where are you going tonight, huh?” Suddenly, the group was around him, the Doctor joined the crowd, knowing he was important to figuring out what to do.

“I’m Mortimer.” He said,

“He’s lying.” Roi said,

“Why don’t you just play some games and have a good time before my mom shows up, you know?” Mortimer said,

“Are you a mama’s boy?” Nikita asked with a grin,

“My mom is the mayor.” Mortimer said, and the Doctor realized he was another Arthur/Sarah/Marvin/Alison. The question was, we he on their side, or was he helping the evil.

“Guys, free popcorn over there.” Mat suddenly said, pointing to the free popcorn, and once again the group dispersed. Mat then approached the Doctor,

“Who are you?” He questioned, “I’ve never seen you on YouTube before.”

“I’m not on YouTube.” The Doctor said, “I’m a traveler, for a while I traveled with Joey, and recently I’ve been traveling on my own.”

“Traveling where, exactly?” Mat questioned,

“Oh, just around. Maybe after you can join me.” Mat raised an eyebrow,

“Oh, sorry, I can’t, I need to stay home, you know, my wife’s pregnant.” He said that with a glow of pride, the Doctor knew that feeling,

“Your first?”

“Yeah.” He grinned, “Seven and a half months.” The Doctor smiled,

“Congratulations” The Doctor turned away,

“Do you have kids?” The Doctor froze,

“Er, yeah, I did.”

“What happened?” The Doctor shook his head and turned away again.

“Surely your name isn’t ‘the Doctor’,” Mat said, changing the subject, “So what is it?”

“John Smith.” The Doctor automatically responded, and Mat nodded, then there was a disturbance, and the two of them ran to it. There was a girl, she was watching the group, the Doctor walked up to her,

“Hello, I’m the Doctor.” He greeted,

“The stars.” She said quietly, “The stars have been talking to me.”

“What do they say?” The Doctor asked,

“All kinds of secrets.” She replied,

“What are they about?”

“He is coming.” She whispered

“Who?”

“He is coming.”

“Tell me, who?” The Doctor demanded, “Who is coming?”

“He.” She said, and then maneuvered herself away. Then, the Doctor saw Mortimer approach,

“You two should go on the ferris wheel.” He suggested to the Doctor and Mat,

“No.” The Doctor said at once,

“Come on, you really should, it’s the best ride here.” Mortimer smiled at Mat, then, when Mat wasn’t looking, his face hardened, and he gave a nod to the Doctor. The Doctor had two options, if Mortimer was trying to help, this could lead them to a clue, if he was trying to get them killed, well, this was the way to go.” Mat and the Doctor sat down, and as the ride began to move, he picked up a piece of paper. It was a newspaper, and the captain read: _The Clowns Here Kill_. On the front cover, was a picture of the clown that greeted them at the arch.  

“The Killer Clown Clan strikes again, much to no one’s surprise. Four major players of the clan shown here. Be warned.” Mat read,

“Hey Mat!” Colleen called from below,

“Don’t trust the clowns!” Mat shouted back,

“There’s a warning, they kill!” The Doctor called down, “Stay away from them!” Suddenly, the ride stopped right at the top.

“Wait, are you stuck?” Colleen called up,

“That doesn’t matter! The clowns! They’re not safe!” The Doctor called back, trying to keep as still as possible, as any sudden movement nearly tipped the passenger cart they were in. Suddenly, Joey and Teala walked away, following the clown,  
“No, Joey, don’t trust her!” Mat called,

“Joey!” The Doctor yelled, but the two couldn’t hear the shouts of warning. After throwing balls at some cans, the clown pulled out a box covered in stars.

“It’s the stars we were warned about! Don’t open it!” The Doctor shouted, Mat turned to him,

“Do you really trust that crazy lady?” He asked,

“Yes, I do.” The Doctor confirmed, Mat nodded, and continued to yell for Joey.

Eventually, Mat and the Doctor stopped trying to tell anyone, because no one could hear them. “Oh, I wish I had my sonic.” The Doctor cursed. Suddenly, a horn blew and everyone was sent jumping up in the air with surprise. There was the mayor, standing on the balcony of what could only have been the town hall with a megaphone.

“Thank you!” The mayor cried as the claps ceased, “Thank you all for coming out to carnival. It’s our lifeblood.”

“Odd choice of words.” The Doctor observed,

“I think you mean it’s sucking _our_ blood.” The woman who had warned them before cried out, “The spell won’t last forever, and then you-know-who is coming back.” The mayor sighed,

“I wouldn’t listen to her words.” She said,

“We’re here to help you!” Joey called up to her,

“Thank you.” The mayor said, “Avoid this woman and her nonsense. She’s gypsy trash who lives on the outskirts of town. Never willing to join us. She’s not to be trusted.” Mat looked at the Doctor,

“Are you sure we should trust her?” He asked,

“Positive.” The Doctor confirmed.

“Where did you get that?” The woman asked, pointing at the box,

“I won it.” Joey said, “It’s mine.”

“Calliope!” The mayor shouted at the woman,

“Not today, Janet!” Calliope shouted back, “Do you _know_ what that is?”

“A box.” Joey said laimly,

“It’s a toy!” Janet shouted through her megaphone,

“No!” Calliope said, “That is one of the carnival master’s wicked artifacts!” At the mention of artifacts, the Doctor felt chills run through his spine, he knew what artifacts did, he knew the power they possessed.

“It’s a harmless carnival prize.” Janet determined,

“Yeah, I got it as a prize.” Joey confirmed,

“Somebody please just open it and put this woman’s hysteria to rest.”

“No!” The Doctor cried out, trying to be loud enough to hear, “Don’t open it!” But his words were lost in the wind. Joey grabbed the handle, and rotated the lever. Suddenly, a jack in the box popped out. From their distance, the Doctor couldn’t tell what it was, but from the screams below, it wasn’t good.

“Nothing happened. Everything is fine.” Janet said calmly, “Just enjoy the carnival. Honestly, I –” Without warning, Janet was grabbed by the waist by a large creature and thrown over the balcony, landing below with a sickening crunch.

“Run!” The Doctor screamed, and even though no one heard, they got the idea as gunshots rang out and hundreds of clowns with guns and knives came running out. The Doctor watched as half of them ran into the arcade, barricading the door, and the other half was ushered into a white van by the clowns, including Joey.  
“We can’t just sit here and watch.” The Doctor determined, “We need to get ourselves down.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Mat asked,

“We need to be noticed. They need to let us down, and we need to make an escape route.” Mat nodded, knowing the only alternative would be to stay up there for however much longer it would be. Grabbing the blanket next to them, the Doctor balled it up and threw it at the clowns.

“Oh! Looks like we forgot some! Go let ‘em down, now!” A clown cried out. The cart began to move again, and the clown stood, dead center, waiting for them. “I want to taste you!” She cried out, “Feel that sledgehammer!” She swung her sledgehammer in a circle, and the Doctor pulled the safety bar off, and jumped over the side of the wheel, quickly followed by Mat. The clown attempted to follow them, but Calliope ran into her, smashing her in the leg, then running to aid the Doctor and Mat,

“Oh, Calliope, am I ever glad to see you.” The Doctor said as they ran for the safety of a large red and white striped tent.

“Okay, I think we’re good.” Mat said as they closed the tent flaps. Then, he turned to Calliope, “Oh, my gosh, thank you so much!” He hugged the woman. On the newspaper, there were four jester symbols in a place where normally an advertisement would occupy.

“I think we need to find something with this symbol on it.” The Doctor determined, and they began to look around.

“Wait, I found one.” Mat said, picking up a pillow,

“I bet a clue is inside.” The Doctor said, that was normally what happened. The two of them broke the pillow apart, and inside was a small piece of turquoise wood. “This turquoise mirror frame,” The Doctor observed, “It’s got missing pieces, I bet." Running to the mirror, the Doctor placed the wooden piece into the frame, and it matched perfectly. The moment the piece went in, one of four lights above it flickered on.

“Three more to go.” Mat said, and they continued to look. The Doctor found the next one on a large giraffe piñata and, in smashing it found another piece. The second light lit up. Mat found the next symbol in the chest, and the Doctor stared at the random toilet that sat in the middle of the tent. To his disappointment, there was a crown on it. As the third light flickered on, Mat approached the Doctor, looking into the open toilet filled with slime and who knows what. Mat groaned, “Oh, but there’s a clue.” The Doctor pulled up his sleeves,

“I’ll do it.” Mat’s face made a grimace,

“Are you sure?” He asked,

“I’ve stuck my hand in worse.” The Doctor admitted, he had kids after all, so he wasn’t that disgusted by vomit or feces. The reminder of his kids pushed on his hearts, but he said nothing and stuck his hand in. After pulling out the piece, the Doctor completed the mirror. As the fourth light flickered on, a drawer opened up and inside was a note and key. The Doctor and Mat stepped out of the tent, and suddenly, they were overtaken by clowns.

The two of them were dragged to a carousel and handcuffed on, they were surrounded by the other guests, also handcuffed to the carousel. They were surrounded on all sides by clowns.

“We want our box back, you filthy cretin.” The clown that greeted them, who seemed to be somewhat of the clown leader, said,

“Well, we don’t have it.” Joey admitted. The Doctor felt his hands struggle in the restraints. He’d gotten out of handcuffs loads of times before, he could do it again, but normally he had the sonic, so he hadn’t had to use his lock-picking skills for a few hundred years.

“You stole it from us!” The clown leader cried out,

“Um, I’m pretty sure you gave it to Joey as a prize.” Mat said,

“We’re gonna roll our dice of death.” the clown cackled, just as the Doctor snapped open his handcuffs, “Whoever’s number comes up, I gut ‘em! I gut ‘em right here in front of your friends!” She cackled again, “Unless, unless, Luke rolls a 12.” She gestured to a joker-esc clown holding two dice, “And then – then I let one of you go. Do you feel lucky?”

“I really do.” the Doctor said, stepping off the carousel, the clown leader looked at him in awe,

“How did you –?”

“Oh, you forget, I’m quite clever. Now, Miss …”

“You don’t need to know my name.” She hissed,

“Well then, whoever you are, do you know who I am?”

“You are a traveler who seeks to steal the power of Everlock.”

“Oh, I’m so much more than that.” The Doctor began to approach threateningly, and to everyone’s surprise, the clown leader began to back up, “I am the oncoming storm, the bringer of darkness, the destroyer of worlds, and if you think for one second that you are going to kill any one of my friends, then run. Run away, because if you so much as lay a finger on them, I will destroy you.” The guests were gaping at the Doctor, and the clown seemed afraid, and then, she ran, all the other clowns following her.


	2. The Clowns Here Kill

The Doctor began to unlock the cuffs of the other guests as Mortimer arrived on a motorcycle to help. “You alright?” He asked the Doctor, who gave a curt nod. Mat gave the Doctor a large hug the moment he got his handcuffs off,

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.” He breathed, and began to help the others with their cuffs. Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor noticed the dice on the ground. The clowns must have left it as they fled, so the Doctor picked them up, his instincts telling him they’d be useful.

“What the _hell_ was that?” Safiya asked as they entered the arcade for cover. The Doctor said nothing, but looked at Joey,

“What did you learn?” He asked,

“The artifact has to be cleansed.” Joey said, “The jack-in-the-box is the artifact, and we’ve got a journal. What have you got?” He asked,

“We’ve got a key and note.” The Doctor answered, “And I’ve also grabbed the dice.”

“We should look around for more clues.” Joey said, the Doctor nodded in agreement.

“Guys! I found some celery!” Joey cried after a few minutes. The Doctor almost laughed, to think that he once wore that as a decorative vegetable.

“So the journal, what is it?” The Doctor asked, peering inside,

“It’s a map of the room.” Mat said, pointing. They began to search the back wall, and behind the corkboard, there was a locked safe.

“Maybe that’s what the key is for!” Nikita gasped. The Doctor unlocked the safe, and inside were two dice-shaped holes. With a grin, the Doctor motioned for JC to pass the dice over, and he placed them into the holes. Suddenly, there was a click, and the light above the refrigerator read: _ON_. Roi opened the refrigerator, and inside was a secret passage. The Doctor made his way through, and found a lounge. There were chairs a coffee table, a couch, and another taller table, which the Doctor knew was for voting. Everyone uttered words of praise as they entered and shut the door behind them.

“That’s a map.” Manny observed, pointing to the wall, “A map of Everlock.” The Doctor ran towards it followed by everyone else. On it was a small note that said: _The cleansing of each artifact will reveal more._

“So, every time an artifact is cleansed, another part of the map is revealed?” Teala asked,

“Seems like we got to get cleansing some artifacts.” Mat nodded.

“There’s a Society Against Evil symbol.” The Doctor quietly pointed out to Joey, who nodded. Grabbing the map, the Doctor pulled it off the wall and flipped it over. There was loads of writing, he began to read: “We were too late. Even with all of our society’s knowledge, we didn’t understand the carnival master’s dark plan. To save Everlock, we froze it in time to give us a chance to stop him, but we were no match for his wrath. Realizing all was lost, I used the last of my life magic to encase him in an amber prison. But, the spell has reached its end. At sunrise, the carnival master will be released from his prison and will consume all life in Everlock. There are eight corrupted artifacts which the carnival master draws power from. If they can be gathered and cleansed of evil, the carnival master will be weakened and can be slain. However, the artifacts are protected, and whenever touched, their evil guardian appears. The final act to cleanse each artifact will require voting on two who must undertake a horrifying challenge that only one will survive. By sunrise, if the artifacts have not been cleansed and the carnival master slain, everyone in town, including you, will be destroyed.” The Doctor looked up at the eyes around him,

“Okay, I thought I was gonna save the town.” Rosanna said, “but now we gotta save ourselves?”

“You said we were gonna save a town.” Colleen looked at Joey, “You didn’t say we were all gonna die.”

“I came for puzzles, man. I didn’t come to like, sacrifice my life.” Mat said,

“I came for a collab.” Colleen said. The commotion built until the Doctor just yelled,

“Quiet!” The room fell silent. “Look, none of us knew what we were getting into, but pointing fingers won’t help. That’s what they want. They want us to break apart and stop believing in each other, but we need to. Joey’s in just as deep as the rest of us, and he had no clue what he was doing.” The last part was a bit of a stretch of the truth, but the Doctor knew telling them that Joey had done this twice before would break the team apart and they couldn't afford that right now. There was a nod of agreement. Joey picked up his letter that would help them find the disc they needed to cleanse the jack-in-the-box, and began to read:

“The Jack needs a pleasant song so he’s not so angry all the time. The clowns have one you can use, but they’ve taken it to their disco party where they’re guarding it. Proper attire is behind the yellow couch.” Nikita began to read her note for the spring they needed.

“The spring on the jack has been corrupted with evil and must be replaced. The clowns have hidden it in their giant tent. You have to rip the stuffing out to find it.”

“Let’s split up.” The Doctor said, and he followed Mat, Safiya, Roi, Manny, Rosanna, and Calliope to the tent. Inside were loads of stuffed animals, so the six of them (Calliope was keeping lookout) began to rip the animals apart.

“Guys, I have a silver dollar.” Mat whispered,

“Oh, I got a coin too.” Rosanna whispered,

“I’ve got one as well.” The Doctor said as he pulled a small coin out of a stuffed dog. Suddenly, there was a cackling, and Calliope hissed at them,

“Hide!” The Doctor dove down behind some chests. Then, the clown, whom the Doctor remembered had been refered to as Sally at one point, came in with a large, spiked bat.

“I just want to bash a head in!” She said, smashing the bat into a bench, then began to cackle again, “Where are you? I know you’re here! Show yourself!” Sally cried out. Then, in finding no one, she smashed her bat into another bench, and cried out, “I’m coming to find you! Mama’s coming!” She cackled once more, and exited the tent.

After ripping apart almost every stuffed animal, four coins were found, and Roi had found a box,

“Put your coin in.” He hissed, and the four coins slid into place. Then, the box opened, and inside were a bunch of empty balloons, a comic strip about Zero-G Man, and a Zero-G Man action figure. In the comic, Zero-G Man was upset because he lost his ability to fly.

“We need to make his action figure fly.” The Doctor concluded, There’s a helium tank there.” He pointed. Manny and Rosanna began to fill the helium balloons, but every time they filled one, it made a loud sound. “Just ignore it, get it over with.” The Doctor whispered to the argumentative team. Suddenly, as Rosanna was filling a orange balloon, she overfilled it an it popped. Rosanna screamed, and the Doctor pulled her and Manny into covering as Sally returned.

“Hello?” She called out, “Come out and play!” After a few minutes of walking around the tent, she determined, “I just got to go tell her they’re not here!” She cackled again, and everyone hurried out. The Doctor tied the balloons to the Zero-G Man action figure. Pushing it into the air, Mat tried to keep him up by blowing on him, and the moment his cape was pushed up behind him, a box beside them opened. The Doctor grabbed the spring and note inside, when, out of nowhere, Sally returned. “Here’s Sally!” She cried out, and the team ran. “Having a party without me?” She asked, chasing after them.

The Doctor, Mat, Safiya, Roi, Manny, and Calliope hurried into the safe-room.

“We’ve got the spring.” Mat said, and the Doctor began to read the note.

“The artifact requires one more piece to be replaced to be fully restored. A new Jack. Two must be selected by vote to undertake a deadly challenge to recover it. Choose wisely, as one of you will not make it out alive. For this unique trial, the two selected must choose a partner to fight for them.” The chatter commenced,

“So basically, this whole ‘save the town’ thing is a big suicide mission that you brought us into." Mat said, "Why. Why us?”

“Listen, we can’t fight now.” The Doctor said reasonably, “We haven’t got a choice now, and none of us knew what we were getting into, not even Joey.”

“Easy for you to say, I don’t see your head on the line.” JC pointed out, murmurs of agreement passed through the group.

“Who even are you?” Colleen asked, “You’re clearly not a YouTuber.”

“And what was all the Oncoming Storm stuff?” Roi added,

“You want me to prove myself, then fine.” The Doctor said, “I volunteer myself.” A murmur transversed through the group, and there was a nod of agreement. The group dispersed to confer separately on who he would be up against. The Doctor went to Joey first, “By the end of this, you better have a good excuse.” He said, Joey nodded, and the Doctor sat back down. Mat walked up to him,

“Why did you volunteer yourself? You know that’s a bad idea. You’ve got a way better chance of surviving if you don’t do that.”

“I need to prove my loyalty. This will strengthen the team and provide a sense of unity. We can’t win if we’re divided.” Mat nodded,

“That’s – that’s noble of you.”

After everyone voted, placing names in a bowl that the Doctor had found. They needed a third-person to draw the name, so Calliope drew the name. She pulled it out, “JC.” JC nodded,

“I choose Mat as my partner.” The Doctor said, Joey looked shocked, almost betrayed, as the Doctor had picked him every other time, but now was the time for strategy, and the Doctor knew Mat was clever.

“I choose Safiya.” JC said. The four guests exited the room.

They stepped into a tent. In front of them were two tables with a clown behind each of them, and behind them was a stage, on the stage two clowns and the clown leader. Behind them were two large targets. The clown leader cackled,

“I’m so jazzed you decided to show up!” She gave a psychotic grin, “I love this game.” She cackled again, “The first person through the four challenges wins.” The clowns grabbed the Doctor and JC, placing them on the stage, and tied them each to a target.

“Oh, look where I’ve got you now. Not so powerful tied up, huh.” The clown leader touched the Doctor’s throat with the tip of her knife, “Nowhere to run.” She cackled again and turned back to Mat and Safiya. “Go.” She laughed.

The first station they had to guess which cup the ball was under. Mat got his first try, but Safiya missed hers, got a pie in the face, and had to try again. The next task, Mat had to eat five hot dogs. “Eat the buns and dogs separately!” The Doctor hissed just loud enough for only Mat to hear. He looked up, clearly surprised at the idea. Grabbing the buns, he ate those first. He finished just as Safiya ran to begin hers.

By the time Safiya was halfway through her hot dogs, Mat was already his third challenge. He had to catapult a rubber chicken into a basket. “You’re clever, you need to get adjust the fulcrum!” The Doctor shouted as Mat fumbled with the chicken.

“Come on, Safiya, you can do this!” The Doctor heard JC shout, but his voice seemed shaky and unsure. After four tries, Mat scored the chicken in the basket, and moved on to his last challenge. He had to knock over the bottles. After two bottles, were down, Safiya came sprinting over, she had already inhaled those hot dogs. But Mat easily knocked down the bottles before Safiya even made it to the fourth station. Grabbing the jack-in-the-box, Mat rotated the lever, “We have a winner!” The clown leader jumped up, “And better yet, a loser!” Without warning, the clown leader spun around and jabbed her knife into JC’s chest,

“JC!” The Doctor called out, but there was no reply, his head drooped to his chest, and he went limp. Then, the jack-in-the-box jumped open, and Mat replaced the head. The moment the head connected with the body, every clown in the room disappeared in a wisp of smoke. “Doctor.” Mat gasped, quickly untying him.

The Doctor, Safiya, and Mat ran back to the safe-room as quickly as they could. “What happened?”  Was the first question they got when they walked through.

“JC is dead.” The Doctor said solemnly. Safiya placed the artifact on the shelf.

“Only seven left.” Mat breathed. “I also found a note.” He pulled it out and read: “Not everyone in town is telling the truth.” Colleen looked around then said,

“What if it’s one of us?”


	3. Venomous Affections

Of course that’s what they immediately brought up. The moment anything was in question they turned on each other. The Doctor sighed, why couldn’t anything be easy? “So, who do you guys think is lying?” Safiya asked after a long silence,

“Well, we only know two people.” Joey said, “That’s Calliope and Mortimer, so…”

“But how do we know that we can all be trusted?” Colleen said, “Maybe it’s one of us.”

“We can’t turn on each other now.” The Doctor sighed, “We need to work together.” There was a murmur, no one seemed sure,

“The Doctor’s right.” Mat said, “If we fight now we’ll never get out of this.” There was a nod of agreement, and Calliope pulled the map down from the wall.

“Fatman Slims is new on the map.” Safiya said, the Doctor nodded and read out the message that had appeared.

“Beware the snakes. The Serpent’s Eyes lie in wait.” There was a moment of silence, in which the Doctor noticed a woman sneaking around. He pointed at her and motioned for everyone to be silent, but the moment Nikita called out,

“Get her!” Everyone ran towards her and tied her to a chair. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair,

“Why does no one ever listen to me?”

“Listen, honey. What were you doing?” Nikita demanded,

“I’m looking for the same thing you’re looking for.” The woman said,

“And what’s that?” Nikita asked,

“The Serpent’s Eyes.” The Doctor examined her,

“She’s been bitten.” He said quietly, kneeling to examine the wound on her neck. It was a small red bite, but left dark grey veins spreading around her neck.

“The snake woman bit me! She stole my husband.” The woman said,

“She’s a man-stealer too?” Teala said, staring at the woman,

“Do you know anything about an artifact?” Joey cut straight to the chase.

“I don’t know, look for suits in the lounge.” There was a murmur that transferred the group,

“Why don’t you guys go on. I’ll stay and watch her.” Calliope said, eyes fixed on the woman. The Doctor nodded and the guests returned to the lounge.

“Oh, I found cards, guys!” Joey jumped up, “Guys, I got a bunch of playing cards.”

“We need to find the suits in the deck.” The Doctor said.

After a few minutes of looking all the suits had been found. Roi slid the combination into the lock, and inside the box layed the Snake Eyes. They weren’t actually snake eyes, mind you, but they held a heavy weight to them. Manny read the note,

“This is the second of the wicked artifacts. To cleanse the Serpent’s Eyes, you must find the head of a great snake, lace the eye inside, and bathe it in the blood of a serpent’s heart.” Colleen spoke up first,

“So all we have to do is find the snake, place these inside his head, and bathe it in the blood of a serpent’s heart.” There was a nod of affirmation. Without warning, there was a scream coming from the arcade, and the Doctor sprinted in to find a humanoid snake sprinting from the room. On the floor, Calliope lay unconscious, the Doctor checked her pulse, she would be fine. But in the chair, rested the woman. She was dead.

“We should check the body.” Mat said, the Doctor stared at her,

“What was her name?” There was a shrug,

“I don’t know.”

After a moment or two of looking, Colleen cried out, “Wait, you guys, you guys, I found it, I found it. Matches, matches, matches.” She opened the note, “It says: Meet me at 7:30, Cindy.”

“That was the friends she was going to meet.” Nikita said,

“Fatman Slims!” Joey cried out, showing the symbol on the back of the card.

“Allons-y!” The Doctor called out, and they exited the arcade. Without warning, the snake-woman jumped out at them, grabbing Roi, and biting his neck. She ran, and the Doctor hurried to Roi’s aid.

“What happened?” Rosanna asked fearfully,

“He’s been poisoned.” The Doctor said, examining the wound, Calliope joined him,

“I know this poisoning, within twenty minutes, it’s gonna eat through your organs. You have to create an antidote to save him.” Calliope said,

“I know there’s a drug store over there, right?” Mortimer said, pointing over his shoulder,

“Let’s split up. Mat, Colleen, Rosanna, you’re with me. We have no time to waste. The rest of you get to Fatman Slims.” No one bothered argue, and the four of them along with Mortimer ran to the drug store.

When they got into the drug store, there were hundreds of jars of pills and concoctions. The Doctor rushed around, grabbing bottles and jars as Mat picked up the apothecary field guide. Mat began to read, “This is an old recipe for anti-venom that will stop even a cobra’s bite. Not too sure about it myself so proceed with caution. After the ingredients are gathered, they will have to be combined in a centrifuge or they won’t bond properly. If done correctly, the liquid will be yellow.” Mat paused, “Ingredient one: A pinch of Hem. Hem-something. The rest is crossed out.”

“First we need something with the venom in it.” The Doctor said, sliding a jar towards Mat, “And we need triterpanes, so mistletoe will work just fine.” He slid bottle towards Mat,

“It doesn’t say anything about mistletoe.” Mat said,

“Yes, but I’ve been around a while and know have an idea about chemical compounds. We need the molecules C30H48 because they contine six isoprene units. There are loads of plants that have that.” Mat narrowed his eyes at the paper,

“But Hemp- the hemp-something. Doesn’t Hemp Root also have triterpenes?” The Doctor grinned at Mat,

“Ooh, you’re clever. Yes it would if you so wish to use it.” Rosanna passed Mat the Hemp Root, and the Doctor tossed him a jar of Castor Oil, “We need some ricinoleic acid.” He then passed a bottle of Rose Oil, “Antioxidants.” He said, then passed another jar, “Moonlilies,” then ran his hands along the wall and found a final jar, “And Calcium Carbonate will get the water to boil.” Mat combined the ingredients, added water, then passed it to the Doctor, who placed it, as well as a counterbalance, in the centrifuge.

Once it was done, the Doctor grabbed a beaker, and turned the faucet. A pure yellow liquid came running out. “Brilliant!” The Doctor grinned, “Allons-y!” The five of them sprinted out of the drug store and to the lounge where Roi rested. When they ran into the lounge, Roi and Teala were looking at a piece of paper in the corner, “Roi!” The Doctor called, handing the beaker to him,  
“We both got bit.” Teala said after Roi drank his portion. She then drank her own, and Roi, Teala, the Doctor, Mat, Rosanna, Colleen, and Mortimer ran to Fatman Slims to join the rest of the group.  
“Come in, come in, come in,” Joey opened the door as the group entered the building,

“You’re back!” Manny whispered excitedly. Safiya walked up the stairs, and the Doctor heard her say,

“Green snakes in cold grass.” At the top of the stairs, a voice said back,

“Head downstairs. I’ll meet you shortly.”

The ten guest along with Calliope and Mortimer walked down to the basement. They waited for two minutes before a man walked down the stairs, “Well, well, look at this lot.” He looked at them, but continued walking, “Each of yous take a card.” The door behind them banged open and the man continued, “That’s Rodrigo and his friend. He’s my manservant.” A man walked in the room in a sparkly blue outfit and a serious face. He and another man placed a large object covered in a black blanket on the table, then turned away. The man pulled off the blanket to reveal a large tower covered in snake designs, that looked suspiciously like a large jenga game. “It’s time to play the serpent’s game,” the man said, “Where the ante is your life. Inside this tower, there is a golden brick and it’s up to you to find it and place it on the pedestal right there.” The man gestured to a small round table in the corner bathed in red light. “You topple over the tower, you go into the final death challenge. No vote. Flip your cards over.” The Doctor flipped his card over. Eight of hearts. “That’s the order you go in.” Nikita looked at her card,

“I have ace, what does that mean?”

“First.” Joey said,

“You go first.” Safiya agreed,

“Game on.” The man said, Nikita walked up to the tower,

“Okay,” She said, pulling out a piece near the top. Teala was next, pulling one further down. Then came Rosanna, pulling out one even further down. Number four was Joey. Five was Colleen, then Safiya,

“Does anyone see any gold?” She asked, the room shook their heads,

“No darling.” Colleen said,

“We have to find the gold.” Nikita said obviously,

“I think it’s a dock.” Rosanna said, “‘Cause I see all the tops of these and it’s green, green, green.”

“We shouldn’t keep pulling pieces that we know aren’t gold. It’s a waste of time.” Colleen said. Safiya expertly took a piece out. Teala came next,

“Teala, for the team, I think it’s best that you choose one right now because we are literally running out of time and we’re all about to die.” Nikita said, The Doctor shot Nikita an irritated look, this could be a matter of life and death, she can have all the time she wanted. Teala pulled one out, and the Doctor stood up, it was his turn.

“Here’s the thing,” Mat said, “One of these that actually provides structural integrity could be the one with the gold.”

“Right, so it could be a suicide mission.” Colleen said. From across the table, Roi looked conflicted,

“You saved my life though, Doctor, you and Mat saved my life. I can do this for you.” The Doctor shook his head,

“Don’t worry about it.” Roi took a small step back, and Nikita stood up,

“How are you literally the daredevil and you’re not going to take a chance for all of us?” She said angrily,

“Oh wow, calling him out.” Colleen said quietly,

“I’m just saying, he literally saved your life.”

“You want me to do it?” Roi asked her, matching her tone,

“I want you to do it.”

“Nikita, Roi,” The Doctor said, trying to concentrate so he could remove the a structural block safely.

“If you are the daredevil of this group than prove it.” Nikita demanded,

“All right.” Roi said, and proceeded to knock the tower over. The Doctor stared at him. Roi was being sent into the final challenge. He grabbed the golden block on the ground, “You happy?” The Doctor looked at Nikita, she seemed shocked, Roi handed her the golden block, “This is for you.” She handed it to Safiya, who placed it on the pedestal next to the chest against the wall. The moment the block touched the pedestal, the chest opened. The Doctor looked inside, picking up the chest’s contents. Inside was the serpent’s head and a note. He read the note as Rosanna placed the eyes in the sockets,

“To finish cleansing the artifact, two must be selected by vote and search the innards of a serpent to claim its heart.” They looked up, Joey was the first to speak,

“We’re gonna have to vote.”

The ten guests returned to the lounge and sat down. “I say we split up again and just discuss among ourselves.” Joey said, there was a nod of agreement. The Doctor sat with Mat, Nikita, Colleen, and Joey, as Teala, Rosanna, Manny, Roi, and Safiya discussed together across the room.

“How early in the challenge did Teala get bit?” Mat asked Joey and Nikita,

“Very early.” Nikita said, They continued to discuss, when Nikita said, “I’m so done with this like, talking in two corners.” She stood up, “Can I say something?” The whole room looked at her, “I really felt as though the snake queen herself chose the two weakest. Can we just start voting and let the hat decide?” The Doctor glared at her, now was not the time to be trying to divide themselves. Joey spoke up,

“Well, Teala, do you have anything to defend yourself?” Teala looked frightened,

“I didn’t really have a chance to discover much.” She admitted, “But I think, I think I pulled my weight somewhat.” There was a pause of uncertainty in the air, when Calliope spoke up,

“The first person to be into the challenge is the Daredevil. Understood?” Roi nodded, “Which leaves only one slot.” Roi walked up to vote first. The Doctor exchanged a look with Mat,

“I voted for Nikita.” He admitted, “We don’t want troublemakers in this group. If we’re going to get through this night, we need to do it together.” The Doctor nodded in agreement.

“I just wish there was a better way.” Mat exhaled,

“Yeah, me too.”

“I will now shuffle.” Calliope said, shuffling the names, “Are you ready?” There was a collective nod, “The person going into the challenge with the Daredevil is…” She grabbed a name, “The troublemaker.” The Doctor made eye contact with Mat. The room gasped,

“Good luck!” Teala called as Nikita and Roi left the lounge. It was quiet.

“Who voted for Nikita?” Joey asked, Mat said nothing, neither did anyone else.

 

Finally, the door to the lounge opened. Nikita marched in holding a snake’s heart in one hand. She was wearing a white quarantine suit, “Which any of you _bitches_ voted for me, I’m coming for you next.”

Suddenly, there was a click and the sound of moving furniture, and out of the wall came a large drawer. Inside it was a large box. Manny grabbed the note on top, “Inside lies the harp of Lazarus. However, the box can only be opened by finding two brass coins that are hidden throughout Everlock and require an additional task to obtain. The Doctor exchanged a glance with the rest of the group,

“Well, we better move quickly then.”


	4. The Man with No Name

“I’m noticing that the Lazarus box actually has the same symbols that were on your briefcase.” Mat said, looking at Joey, “And you said that those were…”

“It’s the Society Against Evil’s symbol.” Joey said,

“What do you know about that?” Colleen asked,

“Essentially, the Society Against Evil fights all evil. I’ve been with them before.” Joey said carefully, clearly calculating his words,

“And so they’re the ones who are out to help this town?” Mat asked, Joey nodded,

“So they’re with us?” Teala questioned,

“They failed in their mission, and that’s why we’re here.” Joey said,

“If they failed, how are we supposed to succeed?” Nikita asked, the Doctor locked eyes with Joey,

“Let’s check the map.” Joey said, clearly looking for a distraction. They examined the new places now visible on the map.

“We’ve got Shag’s Motel.” Colleen pointed out,

“Man with No Name’s Lair.” Teala said, looking at the lair, the Safiya read the block of text,

“The Man with No Name was hunted because the town thought he was a freak of nature. He sure showed them.” All of a sudden, there was a crash outside. A large body bag had fallen on the popcorn machine. Everyone walked out and looked at it,

“Should we take him off the popcorn machine?” Mat asked, unsure. The Doctor opened the bag to find a dead man.  In his lifeless arms, rested a book. The Doctor grabbed it, then moved him off the popcorn machine, and followed the rest of them inside.

“I’m getting close to finding the Statue of Era.” Joey read out, “His power is both terrifying and intoxicating. Many have died seeking to obtain it. After gathering their obituaries, I discovered that their deaths have been secretly chronicled in ‘Adventures of Allan Quatermain.’ There’s something about placing each of the six volumes in their proper order that will reveal the statue. The painting holds the key.” The Doctor looked around,

“You mean like this book?” Rosanna asked, holding up a book by Allan Quatermain. “Yes!” Manny said, the Doctor grabbed the book and flipped through it. Inside, was a painting. The painting had six people in it. It matched a different painting on the wall.

“It looks like we need to place the six books in front of the picture in a certain order.” Mat said helpfully.

After finding all the books, the Doctor looked at the book. There was an odd-looking crease. Opening it, he found the obituaries. They were pretty descriptive of how each person died. “Sarah G. was eaten alive by flesh-eating beetles.” Joey read. They soon found that the obituaries matched the pictures on the book covers. “This guy was crucified by the Black Order Cult.” Joey read out,

“Oh, I’ve got Danielle, impaled by a trident.” Safiya read out.

After placing all the books in order, there was a squeak, and a piece of the wall revealed a doorway. Inside, there was a dark room with leaves on the floor and in the center rested the artifact. “That looks demonic.” Joey observed,

“We’re not in Everlock anymore, Toto.” Mat said quietly, the Doctor smiled slightly,

“There’s some kind of box in here, you guys.” Nikita said, “I feel like we shouldn’t open it, but I feel like that means we should.” The Doctor walked up to the box and opened it up. Inside, was a note and a bunch of straws. “The Statue of Era infects all who touch it.” Rosanna read out, “To purify the crusted idol, five ancient stones must be placed at its feet.” The Doctor noticed the open holes in the bottom of the statue, just waiting to be filled. “To find the stones, you must assemble two hunting parties by drawing straws from the box. The two with the short straws will be the party leaders. Starting with the youngest leader, they will take turns picking their team.” Safiya looked over Rosanna’s shoulder and continued the note,

“The group to recover the stones will be safe from the final challenge. However, the Man with No Name protects his gems, and his touch removes you from the hunt for five minutes. Your only sanctuary is under a red light.” They proceeded to pick straws, the short straws went to the Doctor and Manny.

“I’m twenty-seven, how old are you?” Manny asked, the Doctor laughed,

“Older than that.” Manny looked at the Doctor,

“But how old?” The Doctor considered this for a moment,

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. Come on, we haven’t much time.” Manny decided to drop it and nodded,

“Okay, then I choose Nikita.”

“I choose Mat.” The Doctor said,

“Joey.” Manny said,

“Safiya.”

“Colleen.”

“Rosanna.”

“Teala.” There was a nod.  

“Allons-y.” The Doctor said half-heartedly, and they all exited the arcade. When they walked out, there was a thick green mist covering the town. Through the mist, the Doctor could see that there were two tables, each with a hand missing thee of its fingers. Mat read the note,

“Each clue will lead their respective group to a severed finger. After each finger is found, the group must return to their hand and put it back to the bone to receive the next clue. There’s an additional puzzle by the pump station that holds one of the Lazarus coins needed to open the Lazarus Box. It does not need to be completed to win, but if a hunting party manages to open it, they’ll not only get the coin, but be moved ahead to the final clue even if they’ve not solved the others.”

“I think we should get started.” Mortimer said, the Doctor’s team walked over to the desk and grabbed the note. Rosanna began to read,

“Stand between the sun and moon, and view the tree that died too soon.” The four of them began to walk down the road, when suddenly, there was the sound of smashing footsteps, and an extraordinarily tall man with what looked like tentacles for arms came crashing into sight.

“Find a light!” The Doctor yelled as they sprinted for the nearest street light that bathed the ground in a small circle of red light. The Man with No Name looked at them, then turned away and pursued the other team.  
“Let’s stick together.” The Doctor whispered as they ran down the street, no one bothered argue.

“Look, a sun!” Rosanna pointed at a shop’s window that displayed a small sun. They ran towards it,

“We need a moon and a tree that died to soon.” The Doctor whispered,

“Look, a stump!” Mat called out, running towards a stump in the ground, the Doctor followed, grabbing a finger out of the stump.

The Doctor, Mat, Safiya, and Rosanna ran back to the desk where they grabbed their next clue and read it under the safety of another red light as the Man with No Name returned. “Fifteen doors on both sides,” Safiya read, “but in one, a secret resides.”

“Doors!” The Doctor ran in the direction where a building covered in doors resided, the others following in tow. They ran from door to door, none of them opened, but Mat cried out,

“I got it!” When he pulled a finger out of the crack of the door.

They ran back, once again, avoiding the Man with No Name. The Doctor read the next note, “88 keys open the door. It’s tune will leave you wanting more.”

“Keys?” Mat asked, clearly racking his brain,

“Keys… tune… a piano!” The Doctor exclaimed,

“There’s one in here!” Safiya called, running to Fatman Slims. Rosanna grabbed the finger in the piano and they ran back to the desk, avoiding the man for what he hoped was the last time.

“I live beneath the face of the dead, finding me will get you a step ahead.” Mat read,

“There are skulls over here.” Safiya observed, hurrying over to a building. The Doctor followed, but looked down,

“A _step_ ahead.” He breathed, dropping down to the stairs and running his hands over them. Suddenly, his fingers slipped beneath a pile of leaves, and under it was a small box. He pulled it out, “I found it!” He called, and his team came running towards him. Sliding the key they had gotten from the desk into the lock, the box clicked open, and the four of them ran back into the arcade.

“You have won.” Calliope said, then the door behind them creaked open, and in came Joey, Colleen, Manny, Nikita, and Teala, followed by Mortimer. Once everyone was in, the Doctor read the letter from the box,

“The blood gem can only be recovered by learning the name of the man without one. Two must be selected by vote to enter his toxic lair and steal it from him.” There was a nod, and the remaining nine of them returned to the lounge. The Doctor placed the four stones into the artifact, but the large hole in the middle stayed empty.

The nine of them voted, and Calliope pulled the first name out of the bowl, “The first one into the challenge is… The Super Spy.” Teala nodded, “The second one… The Troublemaker.” Nikita stood up, and stared down at Teala.

“I’m gonna kick your ass.” The two of them excited. The Doctor looked at Mat, who dropped his gaze to the floor.

Finally, the door opened, and Nikita pushed her way back into the lounge. Her face was contorted with anger. She dropped the artifact onto the table. Manny grabbed it with satisfaction and placed it on the shelf. “Did you find the Lazarus coin?” The Doctor asked, Nikita shook her head.

“So, did we lose our chance of opening this?” Rosanna asked, gesturing at the Lazarus box,

“I hope not.” Safiya said. Silence filled the room.


	5. Strong Like a Demon

The Doctor sat with Mat, Nikita, Safiya, Colleen, Teala, Rosanna, and Manny. Joey had said he was going to the bathroom. After twenty minutes, it was clear that was not the case. “Hey guys, I need to talk to you.” Colleen finally said, and the group gathered around her and the box. “We’re running out of time.” She said, “and this box is the only thing we know so far that might help us out.” There was a collective nod of agreement. “We need to figure out how to open this thing and the only clue that we have is these coins, this shape, and it’s the same thing that was on Joey’s book bag before we got to this hellhole.” There was a murmur that transversed the group, “It’s also on the map, and I have this feeling that we can’t trust Joey.”

“It’s been really weird.” Manny agreed, “All those ‘bathroom breaks’. Where are you going bitch?”

“And also, every single time we ask him about this, he’s super sketchy.” Mat pointed out, “He’ll be like ‘Oh, it’s this society that found out about this.’”

“He definitely knows more than he’s telling us,” Safiya said, “But I’m not sure that he’s evil.”

“It’s time that we get some answers.” Mat said, and the Doctor nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go find Joey.” They exited the arcade and began to scan the town for him, sticking together in a tight group.

“You guys, you guys, you guys! There’s a person standing over there.” Colleen pointed out,

“Joey.” The Doctor said, walking towards him. Joey was standing in front of a bridge that had a large demon frame around it. Past the bridge, was a large cemetery. In the center of the cemetery, there was a church.

“Joey!” Rosanna called, but Joey did not turn around.

“Joey!” Safiya joined in. The Doctor placed a hand on Joey’s shoulder, and that seemed to break him out of his trance.

“Joey.” He said seriously, “You have to tell us what’s going on.” Joey stared at him, he pointed his finger to the church,

“That’s where the darkness is coming from.” He said, “That’s where the carnival master is.”

“How do you know that there’s evil coming from over there?” Manny asked, but the Doctor approached the bridge,

“The psychic field isn’t right. Joey’s right, there’s something in there. Something powerful.”

“How do _you_ know?” Nikita asked,

“We should go back to the lounge. Then I’ll tell you. We shouldn’t linger here.” There was a nod, and eyes pivoted to Joey, “And you’re going to explain too.”

“Something has changed on the map!” Calliope’s whisper caused the group to jump. She’d brought the entire map with her. On it, there was now a police station and a new carnival tent.

“This town has had police the entire time?” Mat asked, “What are we doing here?” Colleen read the passage,

“You think you’re stronger than me, kid? I’m stronger than ten men. I’m strong like a demon. Come to the show and prove your strength.”

“Step right up!” An older woman called from behind them, causing them to wheel around, “Step right up!” She had walked out of the new tent, “Step right up!” The Doctor approached her, everyone else in tow. “Y’all here to see the strongman, huh?” She asked,

“Yes.” The Doctor said flatly,

“Is he a nice strongman?” Nikita asked,

“You gonna find out, aren’t you cutie?” The woman said, spitting on the ground in front of them, “Step inside.” The eight of them stepped into the tent, “Only the strongest among you can open the strongman’s box.” She said, “So we’re gonna have us a little arm-wrestling match to find out which one of y’all is the strongest. I need y’all to pair up into teams.” Mat and Nikita went first. “Go!” The woman called, and Mat simi-easily took Nikita out. Next came Rosanna and Colleen.

“I can’t even reach the table.” Rosanna complained, “Maybe I’ll get a step stool.” Colleen took of her jacket and stood in position. They struggled for a few seconds, then Rosanna flattened Colleen. Next came Manny and Joey. They struggled, then Manny took Joey out. The Doctor stepped up against Safiya, easily taking her out. Of course he did, he had superior strength. The next round began, and Rosanna and Manny stepped up. After a bit of a struggle, Manny won. “Aw! You’re so strong.” Rosanna laughed, clapping with everyone else, clearly she hadn’t expected to win. The Doctor stepped up against Mat, and won without struggle. He then stepped up against Manny. Manny looked confident, at least, until the Doctor easily won. He stared in surprise, the Doctor shrugged.

“Only the strongest can open the strongman’s box.” The woman repeated, the Doctor opened the box. Inside, was the next artifact. It was a small triangle with an even smaller pyramid inside. He read the note,

“The demon that lives inside this configuration has escaped and must be locked back inside to cleanse the artifact. The missing pieces must be restored to the cube to seal it.”

“Hold on, that’s the artifact?” Joey asked, “That means we just released the strongman.” There was a roar and a normal man with one enormous demon arm came running in,

“No one’s stronger than me!” He shouted and they ran, suddenly, the man bounded forward and grabbed Safiya, and a scaley woman grabbed Rosanna the both of them were dragged to the prison.

“Mat, Joey, and I will go cleanse the artifact, Manny, Nikita, and Colleen, you need to break Rosanna and Safiya out.” The Doctor called, and the groups dispersed.

“Step right up!” The woman from before, who was now in front of a carnival game, shouted as Mat, Joey, and the Doctor approached. She handed them a small model ferris wheel, then said, “Now get out of my face.” Mat twisted it, and the Doctor looked around.

“It’s operating the ferris wheel.” He observed. The three of them ran towards the ferris wheel and found a locked box. Mat continued to turn the wheel, and the Doctor noticed small writing. He read it, “Who among you is the Captain, and who is the joker? The Captain must ride the one with two feet grounded, and the Joker must complete the trio. With that in place, stop the tallest of them all at the highest point to reveal the next piece of the Demonic Configuration.”

“There are animals on the side of the carts.” Mat pointed out, “A giraffe, a horse, and a Joker.” Joey grabbed the model ferris wheel, Mat got on the giraffe cart, and the Doctor sat on the horse. Joey sent them into the air, stopping Mat at the top. Suddenly, the box clicked open, and Joey let them down. The Doctor grabbed the side of the pyramid and read out the note,

“The second missing piece of the demonic configuration can only be found after the demon idol has been reassembled.”

“That looks pretty demonic.” Mat pointed to a broken totem pole on the arcade porch.

“I found you!” The shout of the strongman got them running. The Doctor pulled the two of them behind a bench. The strongman screamed in anger, pushed a popcorn machine over, and stomped away. They ran to the pole and began to assemble it. It was much like a three-dimensional puzzle, and the Doctor happened to be very good at puzzles. They finished just as Nikita, Manny, Colleen, Rosanna, and Safiya came running back, being chased by the strongman.

“We found the last artifact piece and a lazarus coin!” Rosanna called as they ran into the lounge and the Doctor read the note that had rested with the piece of the artifact,

“To cleanse the artifact, insert the fragments into the configuration and wrap it with a holy band of leather. To recover the leather band, a new strongman must be found. Choose wisely. Only the strongest will survive.”

The eight of them returned to the lounge and everyone looked at Joey and the Doctor. “You go first.” The Doctor said, “You have a lot more to explain away.” Joey looked down,

“Well, first of all, I feel a connection to this town and I have a purpose here.”

“Joey. Why are we here?” The Doctor demanded, “Cut to the chase.” Joey hesitated, “I watched you die Joey!” The Doctor finally shouted, “I watched you die! I held you in my arms. I buried your body!” Everyone stared at the two of them, Joey fidgeted with his hands.

“I didn’t tell you guys at the beginning because I was scared of, like, what you guys would think.” Joey said, “But the Doctor’s right. I died. I died, and I woke up in this town. I was so scared. I didn’t know what was going on. And I signed a contract that I would save this town and they would bring me back to life. And if I don’t save this town, I die with it.” The Doctor stared at him,

“You sacrificed ten other lives just to get a few more years.” The Doctor spat, “Ten other lives filled with so much potential, they could have done so much, and you’ve sentenced them to death.”

“I didn’t know –” Joey tried, but the Doctor stopped him,

“Yes you did. Three times, Joey. You’ve done this three times. Killed twenty-three people.”

“Oh, you can’t use that on me!” Joey stood up, “You’ve killed billions more than I have, Doctor! Billions. You’ve killed entire planets!” The Doctor froze, emotion shuttered through him,  
“And you think that’s justification?”

“You don’t understand! I was going to die!” The Doctor was quiet, “It’s your fault I died!” The Doctor stared at Joey,

“What is he talking about?” Mat finally asked, the Doctor turned to everyone,

“Alright then, It’s my turn.” He said, “Long-story-short, I’m an alien. I met Joey when he invited me and ten other people to a dinner party. By morning, they were all dead.” They all looked at Joey, then back at the Doctor.

“What did he mean when he said you’d killed billions?” Manny asked,

“Is that what you do?” Nikita asked, “Go from planet to planet and destroying them?” The Doctor sat down and closed his eyes,

“I had no choice. They were going to destroy the universe. There was nothing else I could do.” Joey sat down as well as the Doctor explained, “My planet was under attack. If the Daleks had won, they would have taken out the entire universe. I had a choice to make.” He paused, “So I destroyed my planet, taking the daleks with it, but also my own people. My parents. My friends. My children. My grandchildren. Everyone.” The room was silent,

“Joey, it’s time for you to go.” Mat said, finally, standing up to vote. Joey looked at the Doctor, as if waiting for him to come to his defence, but the Doctor said nothing. They voted. The Doctor continued to abstain. Calliope picked up the first name,

“The first male going into the challenge is… the Physician.” The Doctor nodded, knowing whoever he went against would lose. “The second male going into the challenge is… the Detective.” There was a cry of outrage, Mat stood up, he slammed his detective badge on the table,

“There’s no justice here.” He said,

“Alright guys, we gotta get you changed for this.” The Doctor and Mat went into the arcade. They changed into white t-shirts with black stripes on the shoulders, red sports shorts, and red sweatband on their heads. For the first time, everyone else was allowed to watch.

The Doctor and Mat stood together in front of two tires. Mortimer handed Mat the note. “The first to win three of five feats of strength will be the victor. The Doctor nodded, Mat looked defeated. He knew the Doctor was going to win. “The first challenge is to pull the tire across the white line.” The Doctor nodded, he needed to run low and get traction. He watched as Mat clearly had the same idea.

“Begin.” Mortimer said, and the Doctor sprinted. The Doctor easily overtook Mat and crossed the line. The next challenge was shot-put. They had to throw the ball as far as they could. This was mainly technique based. The Doctor placed the ball at the base of his fingers, his fingers slightly spread apart, using the thumb for support. He bent his hand back in a cocked position.

“I once won a house on Tesh this way.” The Doctor commented. Taking a few steps back for momentum, he ran and threw the ball. It went flying through the air and landing roughly forty meters away. Not his best, but easily beat Mat, who got roughly eight, an impressive feet for a human without any practice. If the Doctor won one more, he would win. The next challenge was to keep two buckets of water in the air longer. Mat already began shaking. The Doctor stared at him, he remembered the pride in Mat’s eyes as he had spoken about his unborn son. He was so compassionate, so clever. He would make such a wonderful father. The Doctor let his arms fall limp and dropped the buckets. Mat stared at him, he knew it had been on purpose.

“Doctor?” The Doctor said nothing. The next challenge was to run weights over to Fatman Slims. As Mortimer told them to begin, the Doctor didn’t move as Mat sprinted towards the bar. He quickly ran, and only once he crossed the line did he turn around, the Doctor gave him a smile.

“We need a tie breaker.” Mortimer said, pulling up the arm wrestling table. The Doctor and Mat faced each other.  

“You’re going to lose.” Mat said, but not angrily or with determination. He knew what the Doctor was doing. Mortimer told them to begin and they stood there, gripping hands, neither exerting effort.

“Congratulations on your son.” The Doctor said as he pulled his hand back onto his own pad. Mat started, and the strongman came running towards the Doctor. The last thing he heard before the darkness overtook him was the sound of Mat’s scream of protest and the sickening crunch of the strongman’s fist into his own head.


	6. Funhouse

The Doctor opened his eyes. Something wasn’t right. His first instinct was to glance down at his body, nope, he hadn’t regenerated. Memories came flooding back into his head. He was dead. For good. No more regenerations. He tried to jump to his feet, but fell over. His legs were shaky, he propped himself up on a gravestone. He looked around. He knew exactly where he was. He stared at the church, but the town of Everlock was nowhere in sight. He stumbled to the church and was greeted by a blonde woman in a crop-top brown leather vest and shorts. Next to her was a man wearing the same thing. “Lucky you, you have a friend down below who requests your presence.” The girl ginned, the Doctor looked at her in confusion,

“What?”

“The Harp of Lazarus has been played, it revives a single soul that the player has deemed worthy. You have been chosen. Welcome back to the land of the living.” She pressed a hand to the Doctor’s forehead and the world went dark again.

 

The Doctor gasped as air filled his lungs. He pulled himself upright. He was on the floor in the gameroom of the lounge. He pushed himself up and stumbled into the main room. There was a gasp, “Doctor!” The Doctor heard Mat shout, he ran to the Doctor’s side, letting him lean on him for support. He helped guide the Doctor to the couch, and sat him down,

“It worked.” Safiya said, thankfully, hugging Mat, it was then the Doctor looked around and realized,

“Where’s Colleen?” The name hung in the air, and the silence was answer enough.

“Doctor.” Joey looked at him, “There’s one thing I need to know: What happened when you died?” The Doctor looked at him,

“It was just darkness. Nothing was there, then, I woke up, I was in the graveyard with that church from before. I was told the harp of Lazarus had been played and I was chosen to return to the living world.” Joey nodded, the Doctor ran a shaking hand through his hair and Nikita spoke up,

“That’s all great and everything, and I don’t mean to cut this really intense moment for you, I know you literally just died two seconds ago, but we just got more clues, and… we really need your help more than ever.”

“What do we have to work with?” The Doctor asked, getting right to work,

“Tell my story to let the fun begin.” Nikita read, “And it has a symbol that looks like that.” Nikita pointed to an eye-like symbol on the wall. The Doctor looked down at the drawings splayed on the ground. Each had a ‘W’ on them.

“It’s the same person, he’s growing up.” Rosanna reasoned,

“What did you say his name was?” Joey asked Mortimer,

“His name was Willie.”

“Who is he?” The Doctor asked Mortimer,

“He was an insurance salesman who used to live in the town.” Mortimer said with a shrug. The Doctor turned back, and tried to help place the drawings in the order they thought they took place in. To be honest, he wasn’t much help, as his ballance was still a bit faulty and he still felt weak as his hands and legs continued to tremble. As Joey placed the last drawing on the wall, a red box clicked open. Inside, was the next artifact. It was a circular wheel with a swirl on it.

“You guys, I don’t think we’ve looked at the map yet.” Safiya said suddenly, and the seven of them gathered around the map. The Doctor looked at the map, his vision finally coming into focus,

“The Funhouse is new.” Nikita observed as Safiya read it,

“The Funhouse is open for business. Bloody business.” The Doctor read the note that had been with the artifact,

“The Psychedelic Swirl warps and distorts the souls of all who stare into it. To cleanse this wicked artifact, you must brave the rooms of the funhouse. You’ll need a ticket to enter, but don’t plan on making it back out. The owner is almost as dangerous as the Carnival Master himself.” Mat grabbed the tickets out of the box.

“There are only seven tickets though,” He said, “What about Calliope and Mortimer?”

“I guess that means we can’t go with you guys.” Mortimer said, “We’ll take you as far as the entrance.”

“We are not liable for death.” Mat read the card on the wheel, they took a deep breath, and walked to the funhouse.

When they arrived at the funhouse, they found the entrance was through the mouth of a giant cat face, it’s eyes were spinning. A man walked out, and they immediately realized it was Willie. He had four faces, one on each side of his head.

“A few rules before you suffer.” He said in his angry voice, then his head spun around to reveal a happy face, “At the end of the hall is an elevator. You want to enter in one at a time or –” His head spun again to reveal a demonic face, “I’ll rip your guts out with a fishhook.” His head spun back to the happy face, “The elevator will spew you into a room which you must solve quickly.” His head switched to the last face, it was nervous, “Every few minutes, I’ll spin the dial of disaster, and whatever room it lands on…” The angry face returned, “I will enter and take one of you back for punishment.” He switched back to happy. “Now, a red light may flash from time to time, and when you’re in the room, you must get into the elevator within five seconds.” He switched to nervous, “Let’s have some horrible fun. Tickets, please. Please hurry.”

“Wish me luck, guys.” Mat said, walking into the lift first.

“Be careful.” The Doctor said as he entered. A few minutes later, the Doctor entered the lift. It spun around, revealing two other rooms, one volcano-themed room, and one that looked like a sideways room, but it stopped in a room full of balloons. He climbed through, and on the other side, Mat was crouched over a note. The Doctor looked over his shoulder as he read,

“That wretched woman hid all five of my treats. Put them back where they belong. And Relax, you only need one per row. There’s some extra in case you lose them.”

“They’re probably in the balloons.” The Doctor said, causing Mat to jump, he breathed heavily,

“Alright, let’s get looking.” They grabbed pins and began to pop balloons as Rosanna came crawling through the balloons into the room. The Doctor handed her a pin and they continued to pop until Mat called out, “I found a treat, I found a treat.”

Once they’d found all the candies and categorized them correctly, a box on the floor jumped open. The Doctor grabbed the clue and read it, “Carnival Master corrupted one of you.” They looked around and the Doctor cursed, “Mortimer and Calliope, they’re alone with the artifact.” Mat’s hand jumped to his mouth,

“Oh my – you’re right. The Psychedelic Swirl warps and distorts the souls of all who stare into it.” Mat remembered, the Doctor picked up the key, the World Encyclopedia, and all the rings in the box.

“This book belongs in another room.” Rosanna said, flipping through it, “We need to get them to everyone else.”

“Come on out!” The sound of Willie’s voice rang through as he came stomping through the balloons and into the room. There was nowhere to hide. Willie grabbed Mat and dragged him out,

“Mat!” The Doctor called, but Mat was gone along with Willie. The Doctor groaned in frustration, and slid the key into the lock for a cabinet on the wall. It opened and revealed large, round, false lollipops on the wall, six of them were off the wall, they had to find where each one fit. Rosanna read the clue,

“This was one of my favorite pieces ‘till my wife smashed it. Reassemble it just right, or else.” They began to shuffle the colours around, nothing working, when the red light flashed.

“Keep working.” The Doctor said, and ran back through the balloons to the lift, holding the book. The lift spun the Doctor around into the sideways room containing Joey and Manny.

“She has the final book!” Joey cried out with excitement, Manny slid it into the wall, and a picture dropped down to reveal a safe, Joey read the note,

“I hid this money from my wife so that one day I could escape. The combination is in the constellations of the sky. Maybe a friend can give you a hand.” The red light went off again, and Manny handed Joey some papers with lollipop designs on them, the ones needed for the candy room, and Joey ran into the lift. Suddenly, Willie came crashing in and grabbed the Doctor, escorting him out. He was dragged back into the lift, outside, and through a gate. He locked the door. Inside, was Joey, Mat, and Nikita.

“Welcome.” Mat said sarcastically. A few minutes later, Manny joined them. Then, Rosanna and Safiya came running over clutching one of the three pieces they needed to cleanse the artifact.

“How do we get you out of here?” Safiya asked,

“Do you have a key?” Mat asked, they shook their heads,

“Did you get anything?” Manny asked,

“We just have a note.” Rosanna said,

“What does it say?” The Doctor asked,

“We have to choose one of you captured for the final challenge.” They exchanged a look,

“So you two decide which one of us go into elimination?” Mat asked,

“Yes.” Safiya confirmed.

Rosanna and Safiya returned to the lounge, leaving the five of them in anticipation. Finally, Willie returned, “You two.” He pointed at Nikita and Manny, “Must enter the funhouse one last time.”

“You three, scram.” The Doctor, Joey, and Mat ran back to the lounge and sat down with Safiya and Rosanna.

The five of them sat in silence, waiting for someone to return for a good twenty minutes, when suddenly, Willie came waltzing into the lounge, and stabbed Safiya. “Safiya!” The Doctor ran to her, pulling up her sweater and shirt, taking his jacket off and pressing it to her stomach, trying to apply pressure to the wound, hoping beyond measure that he might be able to save her. It was a simple wound, something he could fix, “Come on, stay with me.” The Doctor gasped, trying to keep her alive, Safiya was holding his hand, she squeezed with the pain unbelievably tightly, “Come on, you’re strong, you can do this.” The Doctor gasped, but the moment her hand went limp, he knew it was over. He closed his eyes, and Manny and Nikita came sprinting in.

“What happened?” Joey asked,

“We’re alive, what –” Nikita began, but was cut short as she saw Safiya, lying on the floor. The Doctor felt her blood on his hands. He should have been able to save her. There had to have been a way.

“He told us that the winner of the challenge, whoever voted us in –” Nikita didn’t finish, but she didn’t need to.

“You don’t have to say it with such attitude.” Mat said angrily,

“I’m just saying –” Nikita began, but Manny cut her off,

“I think she deserved it.”

“Deserved it?” The Doctor stood up, leaving Safiya’s side, “Deserved it?”

“She voted me in.” Nikita said, as if it were perfectly reasonable,

“No one deserves that.” The Doctor spat, “Safiya is dead, she was a _person_ with _potential_ . She had a _future_. She was clever. She had to make a decision. And if there’s anything I know, it’s that not all decisions are good. Sometimes you have to choose between two horrible options. This was in no way deserved.”

“Would you be saying that if that was me?” Nikita asked,

“Yes! I would!”

“Well, now we’ve got the last piece of the artifact.” The Doctor said, grabbing it from Manny, “Let’s just cleanse this artifact.” Nikita and Manny nodded as the Doctor grabbed the bulb and placed it into the artifact. It glowed, then dimmed, and the Doctor placed it onto the shelf. “Now, I think we need to find Mortimer and Calliope.”


	7. Wicked Witches

The Doctor, Rosanna, Mat, Nikita, Manny, and Joey sat in the lounge. Mat was sitting with the Doctor and Rosanna in mourning. “It wasn’t fair…” He whispered, “She didn’t have a chance…” The Doctor nodded,

“None of this is fair.”

“Okay, guys, enough.” Joey finally said, standing in front of everyone, “None of us are gonna get out of here alive if we don’t start working together.” The Doctor sighed, this was what he’d been trying to tell them all this entire time.

“Look, I know you probably don’t like me.” Nikita said defensively, but before she could get the rest of her sentence out, the Doctor angrily stood up,

“This has nothing to do with not liking you. You were happy you weren’t dead, I get that, but that in no way gives you the right to celebrate. Safiya is dead. That is nothing to be happy about.”

“You don’t know what I was going through –” Nikita started, but the Doctor shut her down,

“I know exactly what you were going through, and there’s no shame in disagreeing with my actions and winning instead, but that in no way makes this a happy time. I’m glad you’re alive, really, I am, but that doesn’t make this any less of a tragedy.” Nikita didn’t say anything, so the Doctor grabbed the map, “We don’t have time for this.” He hissed to Nikita, who had opened her mouth, as if to reply.

“We have the gas station, the cemetery, and the bridge that leads to the cemetery.” Mat said, Manny looked up,

“Where do we go next?” Then, without warning, a sharp shrieking sounded in the distance. Everyone jumped in surprised, and suddenly, Mortimer came sprinting into the building.

“Mortimer!” The Doctor ran to him, he was gasping for breath,

“They’re gonna burn him alive.” He said between breaths,

“Where?” The Doctor grabbed Mortimer’s arm, and had him lead to the pump station, where there was a man with a sack over his head tied up. The Doctor ran to his side,

“She’ll be back soon to burn me!” The man said in a raspy voice,

“Who?” Joey asked,

“One of the witches. She’ll be back soon to burn me. You have to find the key.”

“Where?” Rosanna asked,

“I don’t know.” They dispersed, searching for the key,

“Are we sure we wanna help this guy?” Mat asked,

“Yes.” The Doctor responded before anyone else could, “Not one more death. I refuse.” That was all there was to it, they continued to search. The Doctor found a small black skull, and inside its mouth was a scroll. Mat, Nikita, Manny, Rosanna, and Joey set off to figure out the scroll, and the Doctor walked up to Mortimer.

“Mortimer, are you alright.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” He said, not at all convincingly,

“The artifact, did you look into the Psychedelic Swirl?” Mortimer stared at the Doctor,

“I – yes.” He sounded ashamed, he looked up at the Doctor, “Do you know what’s gonna happen to me?” He sounded like a child, he was afraid. The Doctor placed a hand on his shoulder,

“No, I don’t know. But if you ever feel anything. If something’s not right. If you feel yourself fighting for control. Tell me.” Mortimer nodded, and suddenly, a box clicked open, there was a scream from Rosanna, and dust curled around Manny as he stood in front of the open box. The Doctor ran over, and inside, was the next artifact. It was a wicker man, Joey went to grab it,  
“Don’t touch it, don’t touch it, no!” Mat grabbed Joey’s hand away, and the Doctor read the note.

“The witches are using the wicker man to curse the people of Everlock. The coven witches have been using this wicker man to curse the people of town. To cleanse this artifact, you must reverse three of the curses placed.” The Doctor grabbed the key from Nikita’s hand, and ran over, unlocking the man.

“Freedom.” He whispered, pulling the bag off his head. He had a head the reminded the Doctor of Laszlo, the half pig slave. The others were screaming in surprise.

“What, you never seen a guy with a pig face before?” He asked, but without waiting for a response said, “A young witch cursed me.” He then paused, and walked up towards Manny pointing, “They got you too.” Manny froze, “Now, a curse takes time to manifest.” He held up a pair of car keys, “I took something from the witches.” The man walked to his car, and pulled out a spellbook. Suddenly, there was a echoey, high-pitched scream, and three witches came marching out.

“Run!” The Doctor yelled, grabbing the man. They took cover in Fatman Slims, and unrolled the piece of parchment onto the table. On it was a diagram with all three different curses they needed to reverse. An amulet of youth, the wedding ring off a dead man, and a bloody snout.

“You’re the only one with a snout.” Joey said to the man,

“This is a curse.” The man said obviously,

“And if we reverse it, will we get your snout?” The Doctor asked,

“I’d give you anything.” He said. Suddenly, an older woman walked through the door from the back.

“Woah!” Manny called, staring at her, there was nothing too unique about her. She was short and had grey hair.

“Thought everyone had gone home.” She said in a defeated tone. She looked like she had given up. She looked at the diagram they had on the table. Emotion filled her eyes, “The witches killed my brother with their curse and then stole my youth. Look at me. I look like a goddamn hag.” The Doctor looked at her, smiling slightly,

“That’s what the amulet of youth’s going to be used for.” He said, “What’s your name?”

“Maria.” She smiled an empty smile,

“Guys, guys, guys, there’s a resurrection spell in here.” Joey said, pointing at the spellbook, “Where do we find him?”

“His bones are in the cemetery.” Maria said sadly,

“We have the swine undone, we have the resurrection spell, and we have the transformation spell.” Joey said, flipping through the pages,

“Yes, the transformation spell will help you disguise yourself to look like one of the witch’s lovers.”

“So who wants to come with me to help pig-face over here?” Mortimer asked,

“I got you.” Mat said immediately, the Doctor stepped over to join him,

“I’ll come too.” Manny said. The Doctor ripped the two pages they needed out of the spellbook, the reverse-a-swine spell and the invisibility spell, and followed Mortimer out.

When they walked out, the saw two witches standing inside a circle, chanting and waving their wands. The Doctor looked at the spellbook page, “We need to find a cloak and white sand.” He looked at the other, “And for the swine undone spell, we need Elk’s blood, yeti’s milk, and salamander eyeballs in a silver flask.” Inside the circle, there was a large shelf of ingredients. “They’re occupied with their spell, come on, we just can’t be noticed.” The Doctor, Manny, and Mat hurried over behind a tree right beside them. Just as Mat made his approach, both witches snapped their heads sideways, and stared right at him.

“Oi!” The Doctor called, distracting them as Manny and Mat sprinted for the middle,  “You’re not Carrionites, are you?” He mused, the witches paused, and stared at him, Manny was grabbing objects off the shelf, and Mat had seemed to find something in a suitcase underneath the shelf.

“Who are you?” The witches asked,

“I am the Doctor.” They froze,

“We’ve heard stories of you.” One hissed, “You vanquished our sisters, and now we will vanquish _you_.” She flicked her wand and the Doctor felt the flow of psychic energy slide through him and embed itself inside him. The Doctor hurried back with Mat and Manny whom had retreated, and them as well as Mortimer hurried back to Fatman Slims. The man came walking in from the back, grinning and laughing slowly,

“We got your supplies.” Mat said,

“Can you mix it up guys?” the man asked. Manny and the Doctor began to mix the potion, and the Doctor noticed Mat whispering to Mortimer,

“So, Mortimer, you feeling okay, buddy?” Mortimer made eye contact with the Doctor, who shook his head.

“Yeah, we just gotta get through this.” Mortimer lied. The Doctor didn’t want anyone to know what happened to Mortimer. If it ever became important, he would tell them, but he couldn’t have people accusing Mortimer now. Manny cast the spell and handed the concoction to the  man. He looked at it, the looked up,

“I hope you guys did this right.” He said, then downed the entire glass. He looked up,

“How’s it taste?” Mat asked, he shrugged, and coughed. Then, he coughed again, and squealing, he started to convulse. Then he stopped. He stood up, laughing as a red mist surrounded him and his nose slid off, revealing a human one underneath.

“I can’t believe you guys pulled it off.” He grinned, and slammed the snout on the table, “I owe you one.” He left Fatman Slims.

“That was a little violent.” Manny said, the Doctor shrugged, suddenly, outside, there was screaming, and the Doctor ran out,

“I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t show yourselves, I’ll slit her throat right now.” In one hand, the witch held a knife. In the other, Maria. The Doctor stepped out,

“Give her to me.” The witches laughed, “Do you wish to take her place?”

“Yes, I do.” The witches grinned, and the witch holding Maria released her. Joey, Rosanna, and Nikita hurried over, clearly having heard the commotion. Joey grabbed Maria’s hand and walked her in,

“Oh, but I know what’s worse.” Wordlessly, she spun around and flicked her wand at Nikita and Rosanna. Psychic energy erupted around them. They’d been cursed.

“Oh yes, that hurts doesn’t it. Now run Doctor, run in fear.” The Doctor grabbed Nikita and Rosanna’s hands and walked them  inside Fatman Slims.

“We have the ring.” Joey said as they entered,

“We’ve got the nose.” Mat said,

“We resurrected your fine-ass brother, by the way.” Nikita said, looking at Maria,

“How fine are we talking, though?” Manny asked,

“Very.” Joey said as Maria pressed her hands to her mouth,

“Oh, my… thank you.” She said, joyful tears running down her face.

“Wait, this is new.” Joey said, looking at the diagram, he began to read, “Those of you who have been cursed must now pay the price. To reverse the third curse, you must recover the Amulet of Youth by passing through the witches’ tangled skein. The last two to complete it will pay with their life.”

“Who’s been cursed?” The Doctor asked, “I was,”

“I was.” Manny said,

“Me too.” Nikita said,

“So was I.” Rosanna said,

“And I.” Joey said. Mat had been the only one not to get cursed, so he wished everyone luck as they exited Fatman Slims.

The Doctor, Manny, Nikita, Rosanna, and Joey stood in front of the three witches. They were given a note, and the Doctor read, “The last two through the four challenges will be sacrificed by the witches. The first is the witch’s brew. The second is the witch’s hat. The third is the bobbing for rotten apples. The last is maneuvering through their tangled skein without ringing a bell. “Begin.” One of the witches said, and the Doctor picked up his first cup. They were looking for a cup that had a symbol at the bottom of it, so he easily downed the foul liquid. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, but at least it wasn’t pears. He drank three before he found the symbol, but hurried off to the second challenge, Nikita, Manny, Rosanna, and Joey still trying to drink the brew. The next challenge was the hat. He organized the discs quickly, and finished just as Joey his brew. The Doctor easily grabbed the apple with his mouth as Joey came running up to begin, Manny hurrying over to the discs, and Rosanna and Nikita still gagging at the brew. The Doctor then easily eyed a path under the skein and slid under it, Joey right behind him. Manny was running for the apples, Nikita was just finishing the brew, and Rosanna was vomiting, still at the very beginning. The Doctor stood up at the end, extending Joey a hand and helping him to his feet. They watched as Manny began to crawl under, following their lead, Nikita still struggling with the discs, and Rosanna still at the brew. Manny was out next. The moment Manny walked through, Nikita and Rosanna knew it was over.

“Ro.” Joey said, “Ro.” It seemed the only word he could say,

“Tell Mat I love him. Tell him he’s the best friend I could have ever asked for.” She smiled sadly,

“He loves you too, Rosanna.” The Doctor said, “You know he does.” Manny was crying,

“Nikita!” He said tearfully as both of them were carried to the altar. The Doctor felt his legs give way beneath him as the witches stabbed Nikita and Rosanna. He could have saved them. There had to have been a way. They were dead. It was all his fault. The Doctor couldn’t get their screams out of his head.

“What happened?” Mat asked as they returned to Fatman Slims.

“Rosanna and Nikita are dead.” The Doctor said, Mat collapsed into a booth.

“No, No, Ro can’t be dead. She can’t be.”

“She said she loves you. That you were the best friends he could ever ask for.” The Doctor said, carrying out Rosanna’s last wish,

“No, she can’t be dead, SHE’S NOT DEAD!” Mat screamed, tears were coursing down his face. The Doctor pulled Mat into an embrace. Mat curled his arms around him, crying into his shoulder. They stood there for a while, no one else in the room dared speak. Finally, Mat let go, and the Doctor grabbed the amulet.

“We’ve gotten the amulet.” He said to Maria, he placed it on the old woman’s forehead, and suddenly, a warm golden dust spun around. He hair coloured and her lined face smoothed. When the dust finally settled, where the old woman had stood, now stood a young girl.

“I have my life back!” She cried, then, she looked outside, and saw the man who must have been her resurrected brother. “Sam!” She cried, sprinting out to him, they embraced tightly, “I thought I would never see you again!” She gasped. They ran off together. The Doctor turned back to the amulet, placing it onto the artifact. It cleansed. The Doctor grabbed it and the remaining four returned to the lounge, placing it on the shelf.

“Guys, we only have one more artifact left.” Joey said excitedly, “We’re gonna get out of Everlock.” Mat looked around at everyone,

“Well, three of us are.”


	8. Control Issues

Joey, Manny, Mat, and the Doctor sat silently in the lounge. Joey was the first to break the silence, “Okay, guys, we have one more artifact to go. We got this.”

“Yeah, one of us still has to die.” Mat said,

“I think it should be you.” Manny said, looking at the Doctor, “You’re not even human.”

“He’s also saved the universe hundreds of times,” Joey said, “we need him.”

“Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen.” Manny said, “I’ve been in three times, and I swear if I go in a fourth, someone’s after me.”

“I honestly think that’s just how the cards fell,” Joey said, “but you know what, you can think you’re more important than the rest of us, but sure.”

“No one here is more important than anyone else.” The Doctor said, “We all have a right to be here.” There was a pause of silence, then Mat said,

“Let’s take a look at the map.” There was a nod of agreement, and the Doctor was the first to reach it, so pulled it off the wall and brought it down onto a small, round table beside them.

“Oh, wow.” Joey said, peering over the Doctor’s shoulder,

“There’s so much going on,” Manny observed,

“Strange you’d ever forget the night.” Joey read the large words in the center of the map, “What does that mean?”

“Wait, look at these symbols.” The Doctor pointed,

“That looks like the wicker man,” Mat observed, looking at one,

“That’s the snake.” Manny pointed to another,

“These are all the artifacts.” The Doctor said slowly, “and the church, that note’s new.” He pointed to the text that now resided under the church, “Twelve. Three. Six. Nine. And then it all starts again.”

“Those are all parts of a clock,” Mat said, “Like, if you think about a clock,” The Doctor jumped up,

“Of course! I’ve been so thick!” He ran over to the clock and started pulling the wood of it. The wood was new, and in it, were small bits of paper, each with a letter or two and an artifact symbol on it. They matched each symbol on the map to the identical symbol on the bits of paper, and it changed the center message. “Arrange the your seven to get the eighth.” The Doctor read, then spun around to the artifacts, with a quick glance down at the already memorized map, he jumped over to the artifacts on the wall and rearranged them based on the map’s design. The moment he slid the last artifact into place, the square table in the center of the room jumped open. Inside, was the last artifact. “It’s a collar.” the Doctor observed, examining the artifact, “A collar made out of human flesh.” Joey grabbed the note and started to read,

“The Collar of Control must be worn by one of you to begin the cleansing process. Choose wisely, as the collar cannot be removed without help.” Joey hesitated, “You must re-attach the four metal rings to fully purify the collar.” The Doctor turned to Joey as he looked up, “I’ll do it.” There was a nod of agreement, and Joey put on the collar. A gold design ran across the collar as it clicked into place.

“How do you feel?” The Doctor asked,

“I dunno, it really makes me a little light-headed.” Joey said. Suddenly, there was excited screaming and a clown-like girl came jumping in, holding a baseball metal rod, and with a humanoid dog following her. The dog had no fur, it honestly would’ve looked like an incredibly heavily tattooed man had its skin not been grey, it’s mouth not been covered in fangs, and had it not been running on all fours.

“Joey!” She called, and Joey went walking forward in a trance-like state. “Kneel.” She commanded, Joey kneeled down. The girl approached Mortimer, “There’s something wicked about you, pretty boy.” She grinned, sliding her hands all over Mortimer’s body, “You let something creep inside you.” Mortimer pushed her away,

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Lucy.”

“I think you do.” Lucy giggled, “No matter! The Carnival Master will be free soon, and will rip your goddamn throats out. You should be ashamed of how slowly you’re progressing.”

“Bullshit!” Calliope jumped up, the dog growled, and she spit in its face. “We have seven of the artifacts, and you’re the only one standing between us and the last one. So move out of our way before I beat the crazy out of you.” She pushed Lucy back, who began spontaneously laughing, then swung her rod into Calliope’s leg. They began to grapple, pushing each other over tables and couches, wrestling on the ground. Suddenly, the Doctor was grabbed by Joey, and once Lucy had knocked Calliope out with her rod, she grabbed Mat.

“Run!” The Doctor called to Manny, who sprinted out with Mortimer.

The Doctor and Mat got dragged out to a tent and were each locked to a pole with handcuffs. The Doctor began working on getting himself out as Mat started to look around, “There are these shapes.” He said as the Doctor pulled his hands out and started working on the rope around his legs.

“What do they look like?”

“There’s a pom pom, a child on the ground, handcuffs, megaphone, and someone getting an axe to the head. The Doctor pulled his legs out, and pulled a tarp off some kind of game. Pressing the shapes in the order Mat had read off, a drawer jumped out. Inside, was a key for Mat’s handcuff locks, and a note. Suddenly, Manny and Calliope came sprinting in,

“Where’s Mortimer?” The Doctor asked as Manny caught his breath,

“I dunno.” Manny admitted as Mat began to read the note,

“To free your friend from the influence of the collar, three of you must lay hands on them at once, and then quickly remove it. If you choose to not save your friend, they’ll be forced into the final challenge without a vote. But be careful, if your friend touches you, then you are automatically added to the voting box.”

“We need to save him.” The Doctor said, Manny and Mat nodded in agreement.

“We need to go to the church.” Manny said, pulling out his own note, “Cross the bridge and venture onto unholy ground. The first ring lies before the altar inside the Church of the Damned.” He looked up, “I have the key.”

The Doctor, Manny, Mat, and Calliope began to make their way to the church, when they passed a tent, and Calliope pulled them away from the open flap. Inside, was Joey, standing in front of a tied up Mortimer, a black substance covering his chest, and Lucy was all over him, running her hands up and down his chest. Mortimer groaned, seeming to be in pain, and Lucy laughed, smashing her rod into his upper leg, “Come on, let’s taste some, pretty boy.” She grinned, “You belong to me and the Carnaval Master now.” She groped at Mortimer, who struggled against his restraints, then, she turned, staring at the onlooking crowd,

“How did you get free?” She demanded, “Joey, bring them to me!”

“Now’s our chance!” The Doctor hissed as Joey came sprinting at them, the Doctor let Joey chase him, then made a circle and grabbed him from behind, “Everyone needs to touch him!” The Doctor shouted as Mat, Manny, and Calliope came running over. Mat and Manny touched him as well while Calliope removed the collar. Suddenly, with a triumphant shout, Calliope removed the collar. Joey gasped and looked around,

“Come on, we need to go to the church.” Mat said, and they began to hurry over. Suddenly, with a roar, the dog came running out of the drug store and at them,

“Run!” The Doctor called, and they all sprinted to the church, the dog chasing them. When they sprinted in the door, the Doctor turned, making to close the door once Mat rushed in, but the dog simply ran into the air in the doorway, seemingly unable to enter the church. The Doctor then turned to the amber prison in front of them,

“This is where the Carnival Master is.” He said, approaching it and running his hands down the walls, “He’s encased in amber.”

“That’s not good.” Calliope whispered,

“Well, here he is, should we look around?” Mat suggested, there was a murmur of agreement, and Manny called them over to a desk. On the desk was a pair of handcuffs and a note. Joey began to read,

“To claim the first ring, two of you must make a sacrifice by placing one hand on each inside the altar, and closing the metal ring around it.  
“So two of us have to be locked in.” Manny summed it,

“Okay, so I think because the Doctor and I were already locked up, you and Joey should be locked in.” Mat said, Manny and Joey nodded,

“Okay, we can do that.” Manny said, and each of them placed their hand into their individual hole on each side of the desk, the Doctor and Mat clicking the locks into place. With a click, the top of the desk jumped open, Mat grabbed the contents.

“It’s one of the rings!” He exclaimed excitedly, the Doctor looked at Joey and Manny, now that the desk was open, they were no longer locked to it, but to each other. Mat began to read the note, “So many in this town took a dirty secret to their grave. The second ring can only be seen once you have reunited five of them with their secret fetish.” The Doctor glanced at the dog that was guarding the door and growling at them,

“I’ll lure him away.” The Doctor said, and before anyone could argue, sprinted out of the church, the dog not far behind him.

The Doctor could easily outrun the dog, but that didn’t mean the dog wasn’t fast, sprinting around, the Doctor tried to keep a close proximity to the dog to keep him chasing, but far enough away to keep him away from him. After a while of chasing, there was a shout of success, and the Doctor sprinted back to the church to find the others waiting for him. Mat began to read the note they found,

“The demon dog holds the third ring around its neck. You’ll need to find the hunter’s trap in the trees, lure it inside with a tasty human morsel, and impale it with an iron rod. The iron rod from the gnarled tree. The trap is on the other side of the cemetery.”

“Can you lure it again?” Manny asked the Doctor,

“I can lure it, but I’m not human, so can’t be the human morsel.” They nodded, and once again, the Doctor was running for his life away from a demon dog.

Once he had gotten the dog to the tree with the trap, Mat exchanged places with him, luring the dog into the trap. The moment he was caught, Joey grabbed the iron rod as Mat held the dog in the trap. Joey pulled up the rod, and impaled the dog in the chest. It screamed. The Doctor closed his eyes, he hoped that was the last innocent life lost, but he knew it was not the case. Joey grabbed the ring, and the four of them returned to the church.

As they hurried into the church, the Doctor heard Lucy screaming for the loss of her dog. “What have you done!” She screamed, then, Joey, Manny, and Mat gasped, staring at the shelf. On it, was a note, and a bowl and four slips of paper as well as a pen sat on top. The Doctor began to read,

“To claim the fourth ring, two must be selected by vote to beat Lucy at her own game. Be warned, you’re nearing your final confrontation with the Carnival Master.” Joey looked up,

“I think we should all vote our own names.” He said,

“I agree, we all deserve to be here.” Mat said, Manny and the Doctor both nodded, and each of them wrote their names down, showing the others, and placing it in the bowl. Calliope drew the first name,

“Joey.” Joey nodded as she pulled out the next one,

“Manny.” They all exchanged looks, “Come, I will take you to the challenge.” Calliope said, then turned to the Doctor and Mat, “You guys come as well to observe.”

As they walked into the tent, they heard giggling. Lucy was there, holding a limp Mortimer up with her metal rod. In the light, the Doctor could clearly see the diamond-shaped darkness that had engraved itself into Mortimer’s chest. When she saw them, she dropped Mortimer, who weakly caught himself as he dropped to the stage he was on. She unlocked the handcuffs from Joey and Manny. “Mortimer.” The Doctor approached him, “What’s happened to you?”

“Please, let’s just get this over with, please.” Mortimer said, handing a note to Joey. The Doctor and Mat sat down in chairs around the circular pit in the middle of the room. Inside the pit was a sea of popcorn, and multi-coloured balloons. Joey began to read the note,

“There are nine boxes and nine keys among the pool. One box holds salvation. Pop your balloon to be free of your straightjacket. Find the right key before your friend, or this might be your end.” Joey and Manny were both placed in straitjackets,

“Go!” Lucy shouted, and Joey and Manny both jumped into the pool of popcorn. Joey and Manny got their first balloons popped almost at the same time, getting their arm unlocked at the same time. They began searching, Manny finding a key first and running it to a box. He cursed,

“Empty.” And returned to searching.

Before they knew it, Manny found another key, opened another box, cursed, and returned to the pool. Then, Joey found one. Jumping up, he ran to the box, unlocked it, but it too was empty. Manny started lifting boxes, trying to find keys, “I found another one!” Joey jumped up again, running over to the box, just as Manny found one as well. Looking in their respective boxes, as Manny got up to find another key, Joey gasped, staring down at a note. He read, “Kill yourself or kill your friend to claim the ring. You decide how this ends.” The Doctor stared at Joey, unsure what he would do. He stood up, bright pink gun in hand, and aimed it at Manny, “I’m sorry, Manny, but I have to live on.” Four gunshots sounded, and Manny dropped to the floor. Behind them, the click of a box sounded, Mat grabbed the last ring. Mortimer was holding the collar, the Mat secured the last ring, Lucy screamed out,

“It wasn’t supposed to go like this!” She screamed, “You’re all going to die now!” But she crumbled to ash on the ground. The Doctor looked at Mat and Joey,

“Come on, let’s go.” They began to walk out, when Calliope shouted,

“Mortimer!” They turned to see Mortimer running towards the church, “He has the collar. He has the last artifact.” The Doctor sprinted after him, Joey, Mat, and Calliope in tow.

They chased Mortimer to the church, and as they opened the doors, Mortimer stood in front of them holding the collar, surrounded by all the other artifacts, “Don’t come any closer.” Mortimer said,

“Mortimer, what are you doing?” The Doctor asked,

“I’m freeing Nicholas.”

“Mortimer,” The Doctor stepped forward slowly, “Are you still in there?” Mortimer froze for a second, confusion and terror flashing across his eyes for a second,

“I am Mortimer.” Mortimer said, composing himself,

“No, no, what’s inside you?” The Doctor questioned, “Is it possession, corruption?”

“It’s too late for you to do anything, Time Lord.” Mortimer said with a quirk of a smile, he dropped the collar on the last piller,

“No!” The Doctor shouted, as the room filled with a quick-moving golden mist, the amber prison began to crack, when suddenly, a large, horned, harry, humanoid creature broke the prison open, in the center of his chest, was a large crystil.

“It’s him!” Joey gasped, “It’s the Carnival Master.”

“I’ve done all that you asked.” Mortimer said, bowing down, the Carnival Master approached him, and raised his arms up,

“Come.”

“Mortimer, don’t do this.” The Doctor said, trying to reach the man inside,

“Turn around.” The Carnival Master instructed. Mortimer turned to face the Doctor, Joey, Mat, and Calliope. It was then that the Doctor saw his eyes were blood red. “You” the Carnival Master said, walking around him, “Are so easily manipulated.” He wrapped his arms around Mortimer’s head, his arms glowing with psychic energy,

“No!” The Doctor ran into him, knocking Mortimer to the ground, and pushing the Carnival Master back. Mortimer crumpled, Calliope ran over snatching Mortimer’s gun and shooting the crystil in his chest several times, though no damage occurred. The Carnival Master grabbed her by the neck,

“Don’t think so, little lady.” He said, pushing her against the wall, “Did you not think I prepared for this?” He bent over and crushed her throat. She crumpled to the ground. They were dead. “I can smell the stench of society all over you.” The Carnival Master growled at the remaining three, “They called you into a war that’s not yours. And now, you’re going to pay for it with your lives.” The Doctor narrowed his eyes, stepping forward, seeping with anger,

“If you know who I am” He said, “then you know what I’ve done. And you know that if I don’t like something, it stops. And I don’t like this. And it will stop.”

“Oh, Time Lord, I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you. But don’t worry, I have some very special friends who are going to come visit you.” He lifted his arms to the side, and energy flew around the room, he lifted his eyes, the vibrant blues glowing and spinning unnaturally, the artifacts began to glow. Suddenly, Mat pointed outside,

“Wait, no, there’s people coming outside!” undead, bloody, and ravaged corpses came crashing through the back door,

“Run!” The Doctor shouted, and the three of them ran as fast as they could out of the church.


	9. The Carnival Master

The three of them sprinted out the door and ran as fast as they could into the arcade, boarding up the door. The undead were everywhere, banging on the doors and surrounding the building, so the Doctor, Joey, and Mat returned to the lounge to make their plan. “They’re all dead.” Mat gasped, Joey agreed,

“I don’t know what happened, he literally brought the dead back to life.”

“Let’s check the map.” The Doctor said, pulling the other two back to where they were, Mat grabbed the map, and as he turned around to place it on the table Joey gasped,

“The back! There’s something on the back!” Flipping over the map, the Doctor examined the back of the map. There was a picture that captured the scene featuring the man and woman the Doctor had seen when he’d died.

“We were slaughtered by the Carnival Master” The Doctor read, “because we didn’t know his secret. He stole the Life Stones and placed his essence inside them. While they exist, he cannot be killed. You must find them, and with the power of the cleansed artifacts, destroy him. The first Life Stone lies at the heart of a tree long passed –”  
“The tree stump, from the scavenger hunt!” Mat exclaimed, the Doctor continued, “Be careful of his undead minions. If you’re captured, you’ll be taken to the cemetery where you must be rescued by two of your friends who need to lay their hands on the mausoleum. If you have not been freed in five minutes, the undead will feast on your flesh.” In finishing the reading, the Doctor turned to Mat and Joey, “If anyone gets captured, I don’t care if you’re two seconds from reaching a life stone, you will go get them.” There was a collective nod and the Doctor stood up,  “Allons-y!”

The three of them had a pretty good idea of the layout of the town at this point, as they had been running around it all night. Dodging the undead left and right, they sprinted to the stump, only to find a wand stuck through it. Joey picked it up only to find it glowing. Without warning, a large purple crystal descended from the tree beside the stump, the Doctor grabbed it, and without wasting a second, quickly read the note. “The second stone rests on the end of a hangman’s noose. However, you’ll need to wear his executioner’s hood to see it. His raiments are high above where you challenged the Serpent’s Tower.”

“Fatman Slims.” The Doctor identified, “Come on!” They ran over to the Pump Station, where they hid behind the pump, trying to find a way over without getting caught. “We can make a run to the merry-go-round.” Mat suggested, the Doctor nodded,

“Allons-y” The three of them sprinted out and ran through, the Doctor pulled ahead, but noticed Mat fall behind, so ran over, grabbed his hand, and yanked him away from the undead minions and into the restaurant.

“How are these zombies so fast?” Mat gasped as the Doctor held the door closed from the undead minions outside and Joey reread the note,

“The second stone rests on the end of a hangman’s noose.”

“There’s a rope leading upstairs,” The Doctor observed thoughtfully, following it. Inside the room upstairs, there was a small box. The Doctor pulled it open to find a long noose, a hood, and as usual, a note. Joey joined him as he read, “The hangman’s noose reeks of death, and makes one appear undead. The noose must be tied in the correct place to enact the hangman’s power. The path of the noose can be seen from a higher point of view.” Joey pointed to the balcony, and the Doctor followed. On the balcony, rested a diagram labeling the noose and having it tied in a triangle around two different pillars and the merry-go-round. They returned downstairs to where Mat was holding the door closed, “Okay, the plan is, I’m going to head outside with the hood,” The Doctor explained, “Joey’s going to instruct me from above, and I need you, Mat, to hold this door closed until I need to get in.”

“Got it.” Joey said,

“Great.” Mat agreed. In putting the hood on, the Doctor soon discovered that he could not see at all, but all of his other senses were intact, making it significantly easier for him than it would be any human. Mat rolled up the rope, handing it to the Doctor, and he headed outside to walk amongst the undead minions. “Go straight, watch your step,” Mat said, trying to be helpful. The Doctor nodded, he heard the minions growls and grunts as he passed, “Step down, and step down.” Mat said as the Doctor reached the stairs. To be honest, he’d already memorized the layout of the area, but extra help never hurt anyone. Walking confidently so as not to bring attention to himself, the Doctor walked to the merry-go-round.

“Wrap the rope around a pole!” Joey called from the balcony. The Doctor did so, his knot tying skills not going to waste. Walking to the pole, the Doctor tied the rope around it. “Just one more!” Joey called encouragingly as the Doctor turned around to walk to the final pole. Once there, he tied the rope around it and returned to the merry-go-round to finish the triangle.

“Now stand in the middle!” Mat shouted from the front door. The Doctor easily made his way over and raised his hands. From the right, he heard the click of a chest. Walking towards the noise, the Doctor pulled open the chest and retrieved the second crystal.

“Come back, now come back!” The Doctor heard Mat shout, clearly unable to contain his excitement, the end now being in sight. The Doctor swiftly returned and Mat opened the door for him, letting him in. The moment the Doctor pulled the hood off, the undead minions made their way to the doors and windows, pounding on them. The Doctor held the door closed as Mat read the note, “The Maiden of Madness contains the third Life Stone. It will only release the crystals once it has feasted upon the flesh of an undead mother.” Joey looked at the Doctor and Mat,

“We have to go back into the Maiden of Madness lair. “ He said, Mat closed his eyes, clearly in mourning.

“What happened?” The Doctor questioned, “Is that where Colleen?” The silence was answer enough, but finally, Mat spoke.

“We put her in this medieval Iron Maiden.” Mat said, “It was gruesome.” The Doctor ran a shaky hand through his hair, that was one of the more painful human torture devices of that time. Joey continued reading,

“Caroline passed away two years ago from grief over her lost child, and they say she was buried with a token of her daughter.”

“Back to the cemetery it is then,” Mat said, and before anyone could argue, the Doctor jumped up, and ran outside,

“I’m the distraction!” He yelled as the undead minions started running after him. He saw Mat and Joey exchange a look, then wordlessly sprint towards the graveyard.

After running for a few minutes, the Doctor saw Mat and Joey sprint into Fatman Slims. Placing on the hood he had taken with him, the undead minions let off the Doctor, and with his mental map of the area, he quickly joined the two of them in the restaurant. “We’ve got a rattle.” Mat said, “We need to find out which one’s Caroline.” The Doctor grinned, placing the hood over his head again. Joey handed him the rattle, and he walked outside, shaking it. Listening to the groans of the undead around him, as he continued to shake the rattle, the Doctor began to hear one minion who was closer than the others.

“Come back, come back.” Joey instructed and the Doctor returned to Fatman Slims.

“We need another distraction.” Mat said, “Since you don’t know where it is, Doctor…” The Doctor grinned his childish grin and sprinted outside,

“Oi! I’m a distraction!” He shouted at the undead minions, leading them away from Fatman Slims. The Doctor froze as he came sprinting back around to clearing and heard the screams of who could only be Caroline. Then, footsteps, too precise to be those of the undead,

“Doctor!” Mat called, “We’re going back to Fatman Slims.” The Doctor nodded, pulling off the hood, and followed Joey and Mat back into Fatman Slims.

“We’ve got the last crystal.” Joey grinned, then pulled out the note, “With the power of the life stones, place the stones around the harp and strum it twice. The Lazarus Harp can be used to summon fallen champions.

“We’ve got to get back to the lounge.” Mat said, once again, the Doctor stood up and ran out the door before anyone could argue.

Once the Doctor, Mat, and Joey had made it to the lounge, they placed the stones around the harp. The Doctor let his fingers strum the instrument smoothly twice, when golden dust exploded out of the harp, condensing together to create the form of two humanoids. When the dust settled, the Doctor saw the man and woman from when he’d died.

“It’s the Society Against Evil.” Joey said, clearly relieved,

“You’ve done the impossible like we knew you could, Joey.” The woman said, “Now grab the Life Stones. It’s time to finish what we started.” Mat, Joey, and the Doctor each grabbed a Life Stone, a gleam of determination in their eyes, it was almost over. They followed the two outside, where the Doctor watched them slaughter the entire army of undead soldiers. The warriors gestured for the three of them to follow, and the Doctor, Mat, and Joey followed.

“It’s so good to see you again!” Joey said excitedly,

“We have so many questions for you,” Mat said, “Question one, do you have names? This is the Doctor, I’m Mat –”

“And you already know me.” Joey said,

“I’m Jael, this is Ryu.” The woman said flatly.

The five of them walked to the church, and Jael and Ryu stepped through the threshold angrily, “Remember me?” Jael said to the Carnival Master, whose back was turned. He slowly turned to look upon her face. Suddenly, Ryu yelled and sprinted at the Carnival Master,

“No!” The Doctor tried to stop him, but it was too late. Ryu ran right into the Carnival Master’s grip, getting in a slash to the stomach, but the Carnival Master smashed his head into Ryu’s, and Ryu crumpled to the ground. Then, Jael ran at him, he pushed her back, but she caught herself, landing in what could only be described as a hero landing. She ran to the wall, using it to jump onto the Carnival Master, but he ran at her, punching her in the head. Trying to attack again, she ran at him, but he caught her and held her against the wall by her throat, then flipped her onto the ground.

“You give me those Life Stones.” The Carnival Master demanded, walking towards the trio “Before I rip you apart, limb from limb.” The Doctor moved between the Carnival Master and the other two,

“No.” Suddenly, Jael jumped up and ran at the Carnival Master, slashing his leg, sending him reeling backwards. But once again, after a few blows, the Carnival Master took control of the fight and pushed her back against the wall, he held her head in the position, clearly ready to snap her neck, when the Doctor shouted, “Oi!” The Carnival Master’s attention swiveled, “Pick on someone your own size, I bet a Kraals would love a go.” Obviously, the Carnival Master had no clue what a Kraal was, but was well aware it was an insult. Dropping Jael, he stomped over to the Doctor, but Jael had a quick recovery time, and kicked him in the side, swinging her knives. Using the wall to propel herself, she pushed herself into the Carnival Master’s chest, knocking him over on the ground, then swiftly slid the knife across her throat, leaving the Carnival Master motionless. The church rung with silence. Jael helped Ryu to his feet, then turned back to the Doctor, Joey, and Mat.

“This is what you came for, Joey.” She gestured at the glowing stone in the Carnival Master’s chest. “The spell has been broken.” She continued, “Your contract is complete. Everlock now has a future.” Jael and Ryu walked out the back door.

“Let’s get out of here.” Mat said. The three of them placed down the Life Stones around the Carnival Master and a light smoke came out, releasing the town from the time lock. The three of them walked out of the town.

As they left the arch, Joey’s pace slowed, the Doctor turned to him, “Joey?”

“There’s one more thing I need to do. I’ll meet you on the other side, okay?” The Doctor stared at Joey,

“You can’t do this again.”

“I know.”

“Joey, you’re my friend,” Joey winced at the word friend, clearly unhappy with the demoted term, “but you know who I am, and you know what I can do, and you know what I have to do. This has to stop.”

“I have. Forever. This is the end. I just want to live a normal life.” The Doctor nodded,

“Good. Let’s hope this is goodbye.” The Doctor turned, Mat waved Joey off, and Joey walked in the other direction,

“Would you like a ride home?” The Doctor offered Mat,

“That would be great.” Mat laughed, the Doctor led him to his TARDIS,

“Oh, I missed you.” He grinned, lightly stroking the side,

“That’s our ride?” Mat asked skeptically,

“Just you wait.” The Doctor opened the door, inviting Mat in, walking around the console, Mat was looking everywhere at once,

“It’s bigger on the inside.” He breathed, the Doctor grinned, he always loved hearing that,

“Still feel like going home?” Mat stared at him, “Anywhere in time and space.” The Doctor supplied,

“No, I – I’m sorry,” Mat said, “I just want to go home to my wife.” The Doctor nodded in understanding, twisting, pulling, and flicking switches and levers. The Door opened and the Doctor joined Mat at the door. It was a modest house in Los Angeles, California in the United States.

“I’ll see you around, won’t I?” Mat asked, looking at the Doctor,

“Course,” The Doctor lied, Mat smiled,

“See you soon then.” He then ran to the front door. The Doctor watched as he knocked on the door and a quite pretty woman who could only have been his wife answered only to have Mat fling himself onto her, covering her in kisses. The Doctor smiled sadly and returned to the console. Flicking a few levers and pushing a few buttons, the lonely god continued on to his next journey. Alone.


End file.
